


Missing

by beanthebabe



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Small Town, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Bullying, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Consensual Underage Sex, Coran is Alluras god father, Drug Dealing, Eventual Smut, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gang Violence, Gangs, Gay Keith (Voltron), Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Hunk (Voltron) Has Two Moms, Japanese Shiro (Voltron), Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, Korean Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Langst, Lesbian Allura (Voltron), Multi, Murder, Original Character(s), Pining Keith (Voltron), Rape, Rape Aftermath, Samoan Hunk (Voltron), Self Harm, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Underage Drinking, Underage Sex, Underage Smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-02-09 09:36:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 23
Words: 48,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12885102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beanthebabe/pseuds/beanthebabe
Summary: Lance had expected a pretty normal year. Having to deal with his anxiety and crushing on the captain of the football team was already stressful but then one of his best friend's older brother goes missing and everyone's world turns upside down.





	1. First Day of Sophomore Year

Lance's bedroom door flew open.

"Lance, wake up! Your alarm has been going off for ten minutes!" 

Lance slowly opened his eyes and turned to face his sister.

"Just five more minutes Elina, pleaseee." 

She walked over to his alarm, turning it off and pulling the curtains open.

"I already gave you ten more minutes. Now hurry up, you don't wanna be late on the first day of school."

Lance gasped and quickly got out of bed.

"I totally forgot! Is the bathroom open?" 

"Marco's already done. He's making omelettes." 

"Tell him to put extra cheese on mine!" 

Elina nodded and Lance ran down the hallway to the bathroom.

He shut the door and turned the shower on, making the water as warm as possible. He undressed and stepped into it right before the door flew open. 

Lance let out a shocked scream before sticking his head out of the shower and glaring at his little brother.

"How many times do I have to tell you to knock!? Do you really wanna see your brother naked!? Diego, are you listening to me?!" 

He glanced over at Lance before continuing to brush his teeth.

Lance groaned and started washing his hair. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance dried his hair and tried to straighten it out. He frowned at it's stubbornness before brushing his teeth and running back to his room.

He opened his closet to look for an outfit, settling on dark blue skinny jeans and a light blue sweatshirt. He pulled on white ankle socks before grabbing his usual black vans. 

Lance stuffed everything he would need for school into his backpack. He grabbed his phone and ran downstairs. 

Everyone was already sitting at the table eating.

Lance sat down between Elina and Diego.

"Good morning."

Everyone muttered a good morning before returning to what they were doing. 

Lance started eating his omelet.

"Lance, how are you getting to school? Do you need me to take you?" 

"Don't worry about me, I'm riding my bike to school." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Ma, I'll be fine! I'm already 16!" 

Lance's mom smiled at him.

"I know, but you better go straight there! And don't cause hell for your teachers this year! You too, Diego!" 

Diego looked up at his mom.

"But Ma.. I hate school and I hate my teachers!" 

Lance lightly nudged his brother.

"You're in eighth grade. You only have a few more years, you can handle it." 

"I guess.." 

Elina suddenly stood up.

"It's 8:30! You guys need to go!" 

Everyone immediately got up and got all their stuff together. 

"It's supposed to rain today, so take an umbrella." 

Lance grabbed his umbrella and started walking out the door. His mom grabbed him arm. 

"Do you have your meds?" 

"Ah-! No." 

He ran back inside, grabbing the orange bottle on the counter before running back outside.

"Bye! See you all later!" 

Everyone waved goodbye as Lance got on his bike and started pedaling to the school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Lance opened the door to his first class.

"Good morning Mr. P!"

He walked in and sat in the empty seat next to his best friend, Hunk.

"Not so fast McClain. This year I'm not tolerating your non stop talking. You're sitting next to Mr. Daibazaal." 

Lotor and Lance looked at each other in shock.

"Wait Mr. P I can shut up! Please let me sit next to Hunk!"

"I've already made my decision." 

Lance frowned before walking across the classroom and sitting next to Lotor.

"Good morning,  _Daibazaal."_

"Right back at you, McClain."

Pidge walked into the classroom and caught sight of Lance. She immediately started laughing.

"What are you doing over there?"

Lance glared at her before turned to face the front of the class. 

"Katie, you're next to Mr. Garett." 

"What!? That's not fair!" 

"Be quiet, McClain!" 

Lance shut his mouth and glared at his teacher while he told everyone their locker numbers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance, Pidge and Hunk walked down the hallway.

"I hate Calculus so much. Why do we always get Mr. P!?" 

Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Cause the school knows how much we hate him."

Hunk stopped walking.

"He's not that bad. Anyways, I have culinary arts so I gotta go." 

"See you later!"

Lance turned to look at Pidge as Hunk walked away.

"What do you have next?"

"Graphic Design, what about you?" 

"Marine Biology." 

Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Have fun watching ocean documentaries." 

Lance turned and started walking away.

"I will!" 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They ended up watching a documentary about Coral Reefs. It was the first day after all. 

Lance ran across the school to his next class, Geography. 

He ran in and sat between Hunk and Pidge.

"Thanks for saving me a spot." 

Pidge got her notebook out.

"I didn't want to but Hunk made me." 

Lance gasped.

"Rude! I will never bring you food again!" 

Pidge looked at him with wide eyes.

"You wouldn't dare." 

"I would." 

Hunk flicked Lance.

"Sh! She's getting mad!" 

They all looked at their teacher. She was tapping her foot against the floor with her arms crossed. 

Lance gave her an awkward smile.

"Sorry, Ms. Hubler."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The three of them walked to their next class.

"Ms. Hubler and Mr. P should hook up." 

Hunk stared at Lance in disgust.

"Don't ever say that again." 

Pidge looked up at Hunk.

"Their baby would be the ultimate spawn of their hatred for us." 

"It would be trained to attack on command."

They all laughed and walked into their next class.

"Mr. Coover! My favorite teacher!" 

The teacher stepped away from a desk revealing a student.

"We got another member! He's very creative!"

Lance gasped as dramatically as possible.

"No, no, no! He  _cannot_ be in this club! No mullets allowed!"

Keith frowned.

"It's not a mullet."

Pidge sighed and sat down in her usual seat.

"Great, now we have to deal with sexual tension in creative writing." 

Lance blushed.

"What sexual tension?!"

Keith glared at Pidge.

"Don't say things like that please, I'm begging you." 

Lance clung on to Hunk.

"How could you, Pidge?! I would never be attracted to anyone with a mullet!"

"It's not a mullet-"

"Yeah, okay, how's your brother?" 

Keith looked at him in surprise.

"Why do you care?"

Pidge smirked.

"Because he  _loves_ him-!"

Lance slapped his hand over her mouth.

"Pidge! Shut up!"

Keith stared at him before turning away. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Common Keith, come eat with us!" 

Keith looked at Hunk with caution.

"..Where?" 

Lance came from up behind him and wrapped his arms around his shoulders.

"Taco Bell, of course!"

Keith blushed and moved away from him.

"I guess I'll go.." 

Pidge glared at Lance.

"Taco Bell is shit."

"You’re shit-!" 

Hunk slapped his hands together.

"Okay! We are leaving!" 

Everyone began following Hunk, Keith turned to look at Lance. 

"Are we walking or-?"

"Uh, no way! We're taking Hunk’s car!"

They walked into the parking lot and Lance ran ahead, jumping on to the hood of a large yellow minivan. 

"Good ol' yellow!" 

Keith couldn't help but laugh.

"You drive this everywhere?"

Hunk turned red.

"Uh- Yeah.. My parents bought it for my birthday, sorry if it's embarrassing."

"Ah! No, I've just never seen something so.. bright."

Pidge quickly ran over to the passenger door.

"I call shot gun!"

Lance stared at her in shock.

"What!? I'm not sitting with Mullet! You're the one who's friends with him!" 

"You two could use some bonding."

Lance made a gagging sound before opening the back door and motioning for Keith to get in. 

"Hurry up, mullet."

Keith climbed into the back seat, Lance got in next to him and pulled the door shut.

"Start driving!" 

Hunk put his seatbelt on and turned to glare at Lance.

Lance immediately fastened his seatbelt, Keith quickly copied him. Hunk smiled and turned back around.

"Okay! Any music recommendations?" 

"Definitely Beyoncé."

Keith cringed.

"No way." 

Lance pulled the zipper of Keith’s jacket down to reveal his My Chemical Romance shirt.

"Well, we sure aren't listening to  _that!"_

Pidge smirked.

"How about Welcome to the Black Parade?" 

"No!" 

Pidge grabbed the aux cord and plugged it into her phone. 

_When I was a young boy, my father took me into the city to see a marching band._

Lance covered his ears and started screaming. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They pulled into the Taco Bell drive thru. Hunk turned to look at everyone. 

"What do you guys want?" 

Pidge paused the music.

"Five crispy tacos."

Keith looked at the menu.

"Two bean and cheese tacos?"

Lance leaned back in his chair.

"You guys are so basic. I'll get a seven layer burrito and a black bean burrito."

Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Wow, you’re such a hipster."

"Well, why do you need five tacos!? You're literally the size of a two year old!"

"Fuck you."

Lance gasped before throwing himself on to Keith.

"Comfort me, Mullet!"

Keith blushed before awkwardly patting him on the head.

"Uh, it's okay..?" 

Lance and Pidge burst into laughter. 

Hunk drove up to the window.

"Okay, everyone be quiet please!"

A lady opened the window.

"That'll be $26.78!" 

Hunk handed her a handful of cash, the window closed. She came back a few minutes later with his change and their bag of food. 

"Have a great day!" 

Lance stuck his head out the window and winked.

"You too, beautiful." 

She flipped him off before slamming the window shut.

Everyone in the car immediately started laughing, Lance collapsed on to Keith again.

"So rude.." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They parked in the parking lot and started eating. 

Lance tapped Keith on the shoulder, Keith raised an eyebrow at him. 

"Hey Mullet, wanna see something cool?"

Keith cautiously nodded.

Lance reached under the seat and pulled out a box. He handed it to Keith, who opened it before quickly closing it and blushing. 

"Why do you have these?!" 

Pidge reached around and grabbed the box.

"Are you kidding me?! Those are mine!"

Lance reached for the box.

"Hey! I was showing him something!"

Keith looked at them in confusion.

"Why do you have all of those?"

Pidge smirked.

"I sell them. There's a lot of desperate kids here." 

Lance began to reach for his bag.

"Oh yeah, I have some more since we're running low."

The bell rang. Everyone quickly got out of the car and thanked Hunk for the food. 

Pidge grabbed Lance.

"Give them to me after school!"

"Okay!"

Lance zipped his bag back up and ran to class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance ran into his class.

"I'm so sorry Mrs. Merson, there was this huge dog and-"

The older woman sighed.

"Just sit down, Lance." 

Lance sat down next to two very familiar girls.

"Shay, Allura, nice to see you."

Allura playfully punched him.

"You're late, McClain." 

Lance pulled out two tacos, handing one to each of the girls.

"Smuggled these off Pidge."

Shay smiled at him.

"Thank you, Lance!" 

Allura smirked.

"Thanks, McClain."

"Anything for my best friends girlfriend."

Lance grinned at Allura.

"And this princess."

Allura pinched him, Shay blushed.

"Hunk isn't my boyfriend.." 

Allura giggled.

"He isn't  _yet."_

Someone flicked the back of Lance’s head.

"Ow! Who-?!"

Lance turned around to see Lotor.

"Gross!"

Lotor glared at him.

"Can you shut up? Some people are actually trying to learn."

Lance opened his mouth to speak but his teacher interrupted. 

"Lance, can you translate this for me?"

Lance quickly turned around to face his teacher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance walked with Allura and Shay to their next class.

"Have you guys seen Shiro around today?"

Allura turned to look at Lance.

"No, but he's a senior so he probably just has a totally different schedule."

Lance sighed.

"I wanted to see him.. I didn't get to see him at all this summer since he was in Japan!" 

"I'm sure you'll see him later. I heard he's captain of the football team."

"Really!?" 

Allura smirked.

"Yeah, too bad you're not a cheerleader." 

They walked into their class.

Hunk and Pidge we're already there, Allura sat down next to Pidge. 

"Good afternoon, Katie. How are you?"

Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Lura, I already told you to stop being so formal with me, call me Pidge."

Allura blushed.

"Okay... But stop with the nickname."

Pidge smirked.

"Why? I thought you liked it?"

Allura blushed again.

Shay and Lance sat down, Hunk stared at Shay in awe. 

"Wow, I really like your hair. When did you cut it?" 

Shay smiled and her face began to flush.

"Thank you, I got it done last month."

"Well, you look great with short hair."

Lance groaned.

"Great, I'm the fifth wheel! Just wait until I start dating someone! We'll be all lovey dovey while you're all still pining over each other! Where is Mr. Corvi?!"

Lotor walked into the classroom. 

"Okay, that's it. I'm going to sleep. Hunk, wake me up at the end of class."

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Lance woke up to someone shaking him.

"Wha-?"

Hunk stood over him.

"Dude, you slept for like two hours, wake up!" 

Lance quickly got up.

"Two hours?!"

"Yeah 6th and 7th period were combined so we just stayed in here the whole time. Mr. Corvi just let us talk."

Lance let out a sigh of relief. 

"You gotta go to practice though, right?"

Lance quickly got his things together and stood up.

"Yeah, thanks for waking me up! See you tomorrow."

"See ya."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance ran into the indoor pool, running straight into his coach/teacher.

"Ah! Mr. Coover!"

"Oh! Lance, I didn't think you were coming. Head to the locker room."

Lance walked into the locker room and sat down with the other boys.

"McClain!"

Lance turned to look at the captain.

"Rolo!"

The older boy wrapped his arm around Lance’s  shoulder.

"I was beginning to think you weren't gonna show!"

"Of course I came! I gotta welcome all the freshman after all!"

Rolo laughed.

"Great."

Lance ran his hand through Rolo's hair.

"You bleached it?" 

"Yeah, doesn't it make me look cool?"

Lance laughed. He noticed all the other boys staring at them and quickly slipped away from Rolo. 

Rolo frowned but turned to everyone else.

"Okay! We're going over the rules!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance walked out of the school with Rolo.

"Don't be late tomorrow."

"I won't-! Oh, it's raining."

They both looked up at the sky.

"Do you need a ride home?" 

"No, I have my bike. I'll just wait until the rain isn't as heavy."

"Are you sure? I could-"

Lance smiled at him.

"Rolo, I'm fine. You should go, you don't wanna worry your sister."

Rolo sighed.

"Yeah, I guess. Text me later!"

"Okay, I will!" 

Rolo started walking to his car.

"See you tomorrow!" 

"Byeee!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance watched as Rolo got in his car and drove away. The rain was still pretty heavy so he got his phone out.

Someone came up behind him and pulled him into the shadows.

"Hey-! What the hell-?!"

Lance was pushed against the wall. Three boys stood in front of him.

"What do you guys want!? Money!? Well, I don't have any of that!"

One of the boys slapped him.

"Shut up. We know what you're doing. We know what you  _are."_

Lance froze.

"What?" 

"You're a  _fag._ You're trying to get with the captain but it won't work. We're his friends and we aren't gonna let you turn him into a fag too."

"What are you talking about? I don't like him that way! I- I don't even like guys that way!"

They tore his backpack off and let him fall to the ground.

"Hey-!"

They pulled out the magazines.

"If you're not a fag, why do you have these?" 

Lance started to shake and his voice wavered.

"I- I was selling them!"

"Who would wanna buy gay porn, hm?"

"A lot of people, asshole!"

"I thought you had no money?"

Lance gulped.

"..I don't." 

One of the boys kicked him, Lance cried out in pain. 

"Stop, please-!"

He was kicked again, he let out a sob as he felt tears form in his eyes.

One of the boys grabbed his face. 

"You're definitely a fag. No straight man would be this feminine." 

Lance scowled at him.

"Fuck you." 

They kicked him again, his tears began to fall.

The boy that had done the most talking motioned for the other two to leave. 

Once they left he squatted down.

"Too bad you're not a girl. I'd fuck you."

Lance could hardly breathe, he knew what was about to happen.

"Please-!" 

The other boy only smirked.

"Please what? You want me to fuck you?"

He pulled Lance's sweatshirt up and ran his hand along his body. 

"Fine, I'll fuck you." 


	2. Dad's Coming Home Tonight

"What the fuck are you doing?!"

Lance and the boy both looked over to see Keith. The boy slowly got up and smirked. 

"Hey, we're just having some fun. I didn't think anyone was still here. Sorry if we disturbed you, he's really loud-"

Keith’s fist hit the boy in the face.

"Get the hell out of here."

The boy quickly backed away.

"Whatever. You're lucky my friends aren't here. And  _Lance,_ if you tell anyone especially  _you know who_ about this you're fucking dead."

Keith went to hit him again but the boy ran away towards the parking lot.

Keith quickly went to Lance's side. 

"Are you okay? Who was that-?"

Tears fell down Lance’s face and he gasped for air.

"I can't-!"

He grabbed Keith's hand and squeezed it lightly. 

"Lance, you're hyperventilating. You need to breathe, listen to me."

Lance took a deep breath. 

"Yeah, keep doing that."

Keith pulled Lance's sweatshirt down.

Lance continued to take deep breaths until his breathing had returned to normal. He wiped his tears and looked at Keith.

"Why are you here?"

"I was waiting for Shiro, why are  _you_ here?"

"I just got out of swim practice."

Keith squeezed Lance's hand.

"Do you know who that was?"

Lance shook his head. 

"What did he say to you?"

"He called me- he called me a fag. He told me to stay away from his f-friend so I wouldn't turn him into a fag."

"Can you tell me everything that happened?"

"..I was waiting for the rain to settle down when he and two other guys came up behind me and pushed me against the wall. They called me a you know what and took my backpack. They found the magazines I was supposed to give Pidge... They started kicking me and then the other two left. He said 'Too bad you're not a girl. I'd fuck you.' Then I started hyperventilating and I tried to tell him to stop but I couldn't and he said he'd 'fuck me' and- he pulled my sweatshirt up.. he  _touched_ me."

Lance started crying again, Keith began to help him up. 

"We need to let someone know, like the principle or the police-"

"No."

"Lance, they assaulted you. He tried to  _rape_ you! What if I hadn't been here-!?"

Lance started putting his things back in his bag.

"But you were. Thank you for helping me, but I'm not telling anyone. And if you care at all you won't tell either."

Keith frowned and started helping Lance pick his things up.

He grabbed a small orange bottle and looked at the label. 

_Klonopin_

Lance quickly grabbed the pills and stuffed them into his bag. 

"You have anxiety?" 

"..Yeah."

Lance walked back into the fully lit area.

"I don't see Shiro's truck."

"What?"

"His truck isn't in the parking lot."

Keith walked over and looked at the cars left in the parking lot. 

"..You're right."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith pulled his phone out and called Shiro. It went to voicemail every time. 

"Shit. Where is he?"

Lance snickered and pulled his phone out.

"Guess he left you behind. I can call my sister and ask her to come get us."

Keith stared at his phone before sighing.

"Are you sure that's okay?"

"Yeah, my sister is really nice. I'm sure she won't mind."

"If you say so..."

Lance dialed his sisters number and put the phone to his ear.

"Elina? Hey, can you come get me and my friend?"

Keith couldn't help but smile at Lance's use of the word friend. 

"Yeah, he doesn't have a ride home and it's raining really hard."

There was a long pause. 

"Yes I know! I'll do the laundry, okay?"

Lance smiled.

"Thank you sooo much! We're at the front entrance. See you in a little bit."

Lance hung up and put his phone in his pocket.

"She's on her way."

He walked over to the bike rack and started unlocking his bike. Keith walked over and stood next to him.

"I hope you're not in trouble..."

"What? No, it's fine! She was just in the middle of doing laundry so I said I'd finish it for her."

Lance finished unlocking his bike and walked it over to a bench.

He sat down and Keith awkwardly sat down next to him. 

They sat there in silence, except for the sound of the rain.

Lance eventually turned to look at Keith. 

"What's your number?"

"What?"

"Your phone number. I don't have it."

"Oh."

Keith and Lance quickly exchanged phone numbers. 

"Great-!"

A honk came from the parking lot. They both looked over to see a white SUV. 

"That's her!"

Lance grabbed his bike and ran over to the car. He opened the trunk and started putting it in. 

"A little help would be nice!"

Keith quickly ran over and helped Lance.

Lance shut the trunk and opened the back door. They both climbed in and and Keith shut the door behind them. 

"Thank you, Elina!"

"No problem. Who's your friend? I haven't seen him before."

"This is Keith, he's emo. He also has a mullet."

Elina looked back at him.

"He does not have a mullet."

"Well he did  _last_ year!" 

Keith lightly hit Lance’s arm.

"I did not."

"Yes, you did!"

Elina giggled.

"Well, you two seem like good friends."

Lance looked at Keith and smiled.

"Yeah.. I guess we are."

Keith suddenly gasped. 

"What?"

"I don't have a house key."

"Aren't your parents home?"

"..I don't think so."

Lance sighed and leaned back.

"Well, I guess you're staying with us tonight."

"No, I'll just find Shiro and-"

"Keith, we can't have you wondering around in the rain. My siblings have friends stay over all the time, it's fine."

Keith crossed his arms.

"Okay, I don't wanna cause any trouble.."

Elina looked back at him again.

"It's perfectly fine."

"Okay.."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They pulled up in front of a small blue house. Lance grabbed his back pack. 

"Home sweet home!"

Everyone climbed out of the car and walked inside. Elina turned to look at Lance.

"Dad's coming home tonight. I expect the laundry to be done before you go to sleep."

Lance waved her off.

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

He grabbed Keith and led him upstairs. They walked into the first room on the right. 

"This is my room. Make yourself at home."

He shut the door and took his shoes off before throwing himself onto the bed.

Keith took his shoes off and sat down next to Lance.

"Today has been exhausting. I never thought I'd end up with your mullet in my house."

"..I'm sorry."

Lance quickly sat up.

"You have nothing to apologize about."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Keith looked up at Lance. 

"Can I look at your stomach?"

"What? Why?" 

"That sounded really weird. You just said they kicked you and I wanted to make sure you're okay-"

Lance laughed.

"Yeah, you can look."

He laid back on his bed and put his arms behind his head. 

Keith stared at him before slowly lifting up his sweatshirt.

Lance flinched. 

"Did I hurt you?! I'm sorry-!"

"No! You're hands are just really cold."

"Oh.. Sorry."

He lifted his sweatshirt all the way up and started lightly pressing against his stomach. 

"Does this hurt?"

"..Kinda?"

"You're already starting to bruise." 

Lance's bedroom door suddenly flew open. 

"Have you seen my-? Oh my god! Why didn’t you lock your door, stupid!"

Lance quickly sat up.

"Diego! Wait! Oh my god."

Lance climbed out of bed and pulled his sweatshirt down.

"Shit! Diego, wait!"

He ran out of his room and down the hall.

"Diego, open the door!"

"Go away!"

Lance started banging out the door.

"Diego, open the door  _now!"_

He slowly opened the door and looked out at Lance. 

"What were you doing?!"

"I got hurt at school today and he was just checking to make sure I didn't have any major injuries."

Diego glared at him.

"I'm not stupid, he was on top of you! Your shirt was all the way up and his hands were _all_ over you!" 

He slammed the door and locked it. 

Keith walked over to Lance.

"What's going on?" 

Elina suddenly walked up stairs.

"Mom's bringing home pizza, she'll be here any minute so come downstairs." 

Lance knocked on Diego's door again.

"Did you hear her? Hurry up."

Diego opened the door and looked at Keith.

"Is he eating with us?" 

"Yes, he's staying the night." 

Diego glared at them before walking down stairs. 

"What's his problem?"

Lance sighed.

"You are so oblivious."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance walked Keith downstairs. 

"So, I'm gonna introduce you to everyone."

They walked into the kitchen, Lance's siblings were already sitting around the table.

"Diego, move to Sara's old seat."

"Why?"

"So Keith can sit next to me."

Diego crossed his arms.

"Why does he need to sit next to you? Why can't _he_ sit in Sara's seat?" 

Marco snapped his fingers.

_"Diego..."_

Diego got up and sat next to his eldest brother. 

Lance sat down in his usual seat.

"Thank you."

Keith sat down next to him. 

"Okay! You've already met Elina and Diego. My other sister, Sara, doesn't live with us anymore. That's my older brother, Marco. Marco, this is Keith."

Marco smiled at him.

"Nice to meet you. Lance hasn't brought any friends over in a long time."

"Marco, shut up!" 

The front door opened, followed by a man and woman who walked inside. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The woman sat down some pizza boxes on the table. 

"How was everyone's first day of school?" 

Lance smiled at her.

"It was good-"

Diego crossed his arms.

"Horrible."

The man flicked the back of his head.

"Behave!"

Lance looked up at the man.

"Welcome home, Dad." 

He looked at Lance with a smile before looking over at Keith.

"I don't remember making this one. What's your name, kid?" 

Lance wrapped an arm around Keith's shoulders.

"This is my friend, Keith. He's staying the night."

Keith stuck his hand out.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. McClain." 

Lance's mom swatted his hand away.

"There's no need to be so formal!"

Keith smiled at her.

Marco grabbed a piece of pizza. 

"Well, I don't know about all of you but I'm hungry."

Lance's parents sat down and everyone dug in.

Lance's father looked at Keith again.

"So, how did you two become friends?"

Lance quickly answered.

"Katie introduced us."

"Let him answer for himself!”

Lance looked down at the table.

"Sorry."

Keith grabbed Lance's hand from under the table and squeezed.

"We have classes together and we're both friends with.. _Katie._ So, it just kinda happened."

Lance's dad leaned back in his chair.

"You don't really seem like the type of person my son would be friends with." 

Lance's mother put her hand on his.

"Honey, he's our guest don't be rude-"

"I just don't think our son should be hanging out with drug dealers."

Keith’s face immediately turned red.

"I'm not-!"

"I knew your old man, Kogane. He was just like you, no wonder he's dead."

Lance looked at his father with a frown.

"Don't treat him like that! He's not a drug dealer, he's a good student!" 

"You know what, Lance? You're just like Sara. In more ways than one."

Lance froze.

"..What is that supposed to mean?" 

"You know exactly what it means."

"I'm not- I'm not like her."

"This is a small town, son. I've been hearing about you and this football player-"

Lance stood up, his voice raised.

"I'm not-!"

Lance's father slapped him.

Everyone gasped and stood up from the table.

Lance grabbed Keith's arm and ran back upstairs, they went straight into his room and Lance locked the door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance sat down on his bed and avoided eye contact with Keith.

"I'm sorry you had to see that."

Keith turned a lamp on and sat down next to him.

"..Why doesn't Sara live with you anymore?" 

Lance suddenly started to cry.

"Five years ago, when she was twenty, she was looking for an apartment. Since she was already planning on leaving, she decided to come out to my parents and... my Ma told her she would always love her but my Dad-" 

Lance started crying even harder.

"He told her that she wasn't allowed back. She calls us every now and then, she has a girlfriend now and they're living together. I haven't seen her since then though." 

Keith grabbed his hand.

"You haven't seen her for  _five_ years?!"

Lance nodded. 

"So, you're not allowed to see her?!" 

"My dad said he doesn't want her to 'give us any ideas' but I guess he already thinks I'm like her." 

Keith got up and started to pace the room.

"That's so fucked up! He _hit_ you! Does he.. has he hit you before?" 

"..He's not  _abusing_ me, if that's what your asking."

Keith took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. 

"...Are you gay? Wait, that was really weird. I was just wondering-"

Lance laid down on his bed.

"Well, I-"

Someone knocked on the door.

Lance quickly sat up before looking at Keith. 

Keith walked over to the door.

"Yes?"

"It's Elina. Are you guys okay?"

Lance walked over and unlocked the door. Elina handed Keith a box of pizza. 

"Here, Mom and Dad are in their room. Don't worry about the laundry, I'm sorry Lance."

Lance hugged his sister.

"It's not your fault. Are you sure you don't want me to do the laundry?" 

"It's fine! There wasn't much more to do anyways. You two should get some sleep." 

"Good night, Elina." 

She smiled at the two boys. 

"Good night, you better not stay up all night!"

"We won't!"

She walked away and Lance shut the door before locking it again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance climbed out his window, Keith handed him a blanket.

"Are you sure you won't get in trouble?"

Lance spread the blanket out on the roof. 

"Yes! I do this all the time, now hurry up before the rain comes back!"

Keith handed Lance the box of pizza before climbing out of the window and sitting down on the blanket.

Lance sat down next to him and pulled his phone out of his pocket. 

"Is it okay if I play music?"

Keith grabbed a slice of pizza.

"As long as it's not Beyoncé."

"Well, I'm not playing My Chemical Romance."

Lance hit shuffle on his playlist and sat his phone down. 

_Up on_ _melancholy hill there's a plastic tree. Are you here with me? Just looking out on the day of another dream._

Keith looked at Lance in shock.

" _You_ like _Gorillazs?!"_  

"Yeah? Doesn't everyone?" 

"I thought you only liked Beyoncé and Britney Spears!" 

Lance smirked.

"Don't judge a book by it's cover." 

Lance looked up at the sky, Keith stared at him astonishment. 

_Well, you can't get what you want but you can get me. So let's set out to sea cause you are my medicine. When you're close to me, when you're close to me._

Keith blushed and grabbed another slice of pizza. 

"Hey! Leave some for me!"

"Are you dating Shiro?"

Lance froze.

"What?! No, I'm-!"

He took a deep breath.

"Promise not to tell  _anyone,_ especially Shiro?"

Keith nodded.

"I promise I won't tell."

"I.. we're friends but I like him. If you tell anyone I'll kill you!" 

"So, you  _like_ him?"

Lance blushed and slowly nodded his head. 

"Are you gonna tell him?"

"No! It would ruin our friendship! Besides there's already rumors about us.."

Keith opened his mouth to speak, a drop of rain hit the roof. 

"Shit, hurry we need to get everything inside!" 

Lance climbed back into his room and started grabbing everything. Keith handed him the blanket before climbing in and closing the window.

They sat down on Lance's bed and watched the rain.

After a while, Lance stood up and walked over to his door. 

"Well, I'm gonna get ready for bed. We have plenty of extra toothbrushes so..."

"Ah! I'll just wait until you're finished.." 

Lance nodded before unlocking his door and walking to the bathroom.

Keith leaned back and pulled his phone out before he started scrolling through Instagram.

Lance's phone started to ring.

Keith looked over to see a photo of Pidge with the name Gremlin under it. He watched as the call ended before it started ringing again.

He looked over at the clock sitting on Lance's dresser.

  _1:03 AM_

Lance's phone started ringing for the third time. Keith groaned before answering the call and pressing the phone to his ear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Hello-?" 

"Lance! Oh my god, Matt was supposed to be home three hours ago! My parents are both out of town and I don't know what to do-!"

"Wait, Pidge calm down. Lance is in the bathroom right now, do you want me to get him?" 

"Keith? Why are you with Lance? Where are you guys right now?!"

Lance walked back into his room. 

"I'm done- Why do you have my phone?!" 

Keith stood up.

"Pidge is freaking out-"

Three loud gunshots suddenly came from outside.

Keith and Lance immediately froze. 

"Pidge, we'll call you later."

"What?! What was that-?!"

Keith hung up and ran to the window with Lance following right behind him.

There was a body in the road.


	3. He's Coming For Me

Lance pulled Keith away from the window. 

"Holy shit, we need to call the police!"

Lance tried to grab his phone but Keith pulled it away. 

"Someone's probably already called them. We need to go see if they're okay."

"Are you crazy?! What if the shooter's still there?!"

Keith walked over to his backpack and pulled out a knife. Lance looked at him in shock. 

"What the actual fuck?! You took that to  _school?!"_

"You never know when you'll need to depend yourself."

Elina suddenly burst into the room.

"I called the cops-! Why do you have a knife?!"

She turned to Lance with wide eyes.

"Why does he have a knife?!"

"I don't know!"

"Ugh, just stay in your room!"

She shut the door and ran down the hall. Keith walked over to Lance's window. 

"We have to help them." 

"I don't wanna get shot!"

"What if they're still alive?! We  _need_ to help them!"

They stared at each other for a moment before Lance sighed and walked over to the window.

"Fine! Let's hurry up."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They quickly shut the window and crawled down to the end of the roof. Lance swallowed the lump in his throat. 

"We have to jump?"

"Yes! It's not that high up, I'll help you."

Keith put the knife in his pocket and jumped off the roof. 

"Hurry up!" 

Lance sighed before jumping off. Keith grabbed his hand to help him steady himself. 

"See, not that bad."

They made their way over to the body, Keith pulled his phone out and turned the flash light on.

They both immediately gasped.

Lance let out a sob before falling on to his knees. 

"Oh my god."

Keith knelt down next to him.

"Shiro?! Oh god, please be okay. The police are on their way! Hold on a little while longer!"

Shiro coughed and looked up at the two younger boys.

"Keith? What are you doing here? You need to leave right now, it's not safe." 

Lance grabbed Keith's arm.

"Keith. His arm. Look at  _his arm."_

Keith looked down at his brothers right arm and almost gagged. It was practically  _shredded._ He looked at his face and noticed there was also a deep cut along his nose.

"Fuck, just a little longer. Stay awake, _please."_

Lance carefully lifted Shiro's head up and placed it on his lap.

"Kashi, it's me. You need to stay awake. You'll be okay."

"Lance? You need to go, I can't let you two get hurt. He's coming for me, I can't let him get you too." 

Tears began to roll down Lance's cheeks.

"You're safe! We're gonna protect you, your brother has his stupid knife and everything!" 

Shiro tried to raise his arm up.

"Lance, don't cry. Please don't cry." 

Lance grabbed on to Shiro's hand and sobbed. The sound of police sirens suddenly filled the air. 

"They're here! You're gonna be okay!"

Three police cars and an ambulance pulled up. The cops and paramedics ran over to them, Shiro was carefully put on to a stretcher and pulled into the ambulance. 

One of the cops pulled Lance and Keith away from the scene.

"I'm gonna need you two to come with me."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance and Keith sat in the waiting room of the hospital. 

"I've contacted your parents, Kogane. You too, McClain. Now, do you have any idea who could have done this to your brother?"

Keith groaned.

"Kolivan, I already told you-"

"I told you to call me officer while I'm on duty." 

"I already told you I have no idea who would do this,  _officer."_

Kolivan glared at him before handing them their phones.

"You should both call your parents."

He handed Lance a box of tissues.

"Here, he'll be out of surgery soon."

Lance took the tissues and blew his nose before turning his phone on. 

**22 missed calls from Gremlin**

"Shit, I'm gonna call her."

He put the phone up to his ear, it only rang once before she answered. 

"Where the fuck are you?! I went by your house and it was an actual fucking crime scene!"

"I'm at the hospital with Keith-" 

"What?! I'm getting Hunk to drive me over. _**Don't** **leave!"**_  

She hung up before Lance could object. 

"Hunk and Pidge are on their way."

Keith stayed silent and stared at the floor.

Lance grabbed his hand and leaned on his shoulder.

"Let's just relax, okay? We've had a pretty rough day."

Keith only nodded.

Lance smiled at him sadly and squeezed his hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance felt someone shaking him, he opened his eyes to see Keith. 

"What-?"

Keith squeezed his hand. 

"They're here."

Lance looked down the hall and saw Hunk and Pidge running towards them. He looked back at Keith and noticed tear streaks on his face, he frowned before trying his best to wipe them away.

Pidge grabbed Lance's shoulder.

"What happened?!"

Keith closed his eye's and leaned back. Lance looked over at him before looking back at Pidge.

"Shiro got hurt. He's in surgery right now."

"So, those gun shots..?"

Lance nodded.

"Do they know who did it? Why was he by your house?"

"I don't know. He kept saying we needed to leave because he didn't want us to get hurt and that  _he_ was after him."

Hunk sat down next to Lance.

_"He?"_

"Yeah, we have no idea who  _he_ is."

Pidge sat down on the floor.

"Something really weird is happening. Keith, did Shiro go to school today?"

"I don't know. He dropped me off and then said he needed to go get Matt."

Pidge stared at him in shock.

"Matt did they same thing!"

Keith turned to face her.

"You said your parents are out of town?"

"Yeah, on a business trip."

"My parents are in Japan!"

Pidge stood up.

"What the fuck?! So, our parents are out of town and our brothers don't go to school, then your's gets shot and mine is missing."

Lance looked at them in shock.

"You need to tell Officer Kolivan."

Keith stood up and walked down the hallway to where the cops were. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith sat down next to Lance.

"What'd they say?"

"They'll look into it! Like that will do shit, they should be looking for Matt!"

Lance grabbed on to Keith's hand. Pidge stared at them.

"What's with that?"

Lance looked down at her.

"What?"

"You guys have been holding hands this whole time. Plus, Keith was at your house. He answered your _phone._ _"_

Lance blushed and let go of Keith's hand. 

"We're just-"

Keith grabbed his hand again.

"It's a long story." 

Pidge rolled her eyes.

Hunk grabbed Lance's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. 

"You guys are okay though, right?"

Lance smiled at him.

"Yeah, we're fine."

Keith glared at Lance. 

"What? We're  _fine?!"_

A nurse suddenly walked towards them.

"Family of Takashi Shirogane?"

Everyone stood up. 

"Are his parents present?"

Keith crossed his arms.

"No, uh we're his siblings.."

The nurse looked back at Kolivan who nodded. 

"He's gonna be okay. We got the bullets out but his arm had to be... amputated." 

Everyone looked at the nurse in shock.

Lance squeezed Keith's hand. 

"Amputated?" 

"Yes. Although there's a new product that was recently created that could-"

Keith bit his lip hard.

"We'll take it."

"Sir, I didn't finish-"

"I know what it is and I said we'll talk it."

The nurse simply nodded.

"He's in room A42." 

The group immediately ran down the hallway to find his room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith and Hunk sat down in the chairs next to Shiro's bed while Pidge and Lance sat on the floor, it had been an hour and Shiro was still passed out. Hunk had bought everyone coffee while they waited.

Keith looked over at him in concern.

"Aren't your parents worried?"

Hunk smiled at him.

"They know about the situation, so they said it was okay." 

Lance leaned on Keith's leg and smiled.

"Hunk's parents are the nicest people you'll  _ever_ meet. It's like his entire family is just angels."

Hunk's cheeks turned pink and he chuckled nervously.

"That's not true. We're the same as everyone else." 

Shiro suddenly groaned.

The group immediately went to stand at his bedside, Lance grabbed his hand.

"Kashi! How are you feeling?"

Shiro looked at him in confusion before sitting up.

"Where am I..? Where's Matt!?"

Pidge's eyes widened at the mention of her brother.

"Where were you two? Who did this to you? Where's my brother!?"

Hunk placed a hand on her shoulder and looked down at Shiro.

"You're at the hospital. You were shot."

Shiro looked at everyone in shock before looking at Keith.

"Have you told Mom and Dad?"

Keith quickly nodded.

Shiro's forehead furrowed and he looked down at his blanket.

Lance squeezed his hand, hoping to give the older boy some comfort. 

"I tried _so hard_ to help him. I'll get him back Pidge, I swear. I won't let him hurt us, you shouldn't have gotten involved. Now he might come after all of you!"

"Who?"

Shiro looked up at Lance as tears began to fill his eyes.

"I can't- I'm not allowed to say!"

"Kashi, listen to me. We won't let him hurt you." 

Shiro suddenly gasped.

"My arm."

Keith slammed his hand on to the nightstand.

"Who!? Who did this to you, Takashi!?" 

Shiro flinched at the sudden outburst.

Lance turned to Keith with a sad smile on his face. 

"We'll find out who did this. I know you're upset, we all are but you can't take it out on him."

Keith nodded and leaned against him.

Shiro looked up at the two boys in confusion.

"You two... are friends?"

Lance's face immediately flushed.

"Yeah, we actually get along pretty well..." 

Shiro smiled at them.

"That's great."

"Anyways! You should get some rest!" 

"You should too. Your parents are probably all worried.."

Hunk smiled at him.

"No, it's fine, we all have permission to be here."

Shiro sighed.

"Okay, you should still get some rest though."

Pidge walked over to the light switch and dimmed the lights.

"We'll just sleep here."

Shiro closed his eyes.

"I'm exhausted."

Hunk walked over to the door.

"I'll go ask for some more chairs."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance sat down and leaned on the bed, Hunk and Pidge were asleep behind him.

Keith slowly put his hand on Lance's back.

"You should go to sleep."

Lance turned to face him. 

"You should too."

"I'm worried."

Lance sighed and looked back at Shiro, who was sleeping soundly.

"We all are..."

"Let's get some sleep."

Lance laid his head down on the bed and grabbed on to Shiro's hand. 

"Goodnight, Lance."

"Goodnight, Mullet."

Lance closed his eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Someone suddenly pulled Lance out of the chair he had been sleeping in.

He quickly opened his eyes and looked up at them. 

 _"Dad!?_  What are you-?"

"Shut up, we're going home."

Lance glanced over at the clock. 

**5:57 AM**

He was pulled out into the hallway.

"Dad! Stop, I'm staying here."

"No, I knew that Kogane kid was bad news. You're not allowed to see him anymore."

Lance pulled away from his father.

"He's my friend! His brother was  _shot!"_

"You're not allowed to see that football player either, they're both bad news. I'm surprised Tsuyoshi and Katie would even hang out with them. Well, I never really liked Tsuyoshi anyways since his 'parents' are-"

"Stop it! They're my friends and I need to be here with them!"

Lance's father grabbed back on to his sons arm.

"I didn't want to believe what everyone was saying but I guess it's true. I saw you holding his hand in there, that football player. I don't even want to know what you're doing with the other boys. You're not a  _slut,_ are you? No son of mine is going to be a  _slut_ for another man!"

Lance glared at him.

"What if I do like boys?! What are you gonna do, kick me out?! Just like you did with Sara?! I'm not scared of you, at least I would finally be allowed to see my sister!"

Lance's father slapped him.

Lance fell down on to the floor in shock, he slowly placed his hand where his father had hit him before looking up with wide eyes. 

"You're unbelievable. To think I have a _fag_ in  _my_ family! Not to mention a _slut!_ How many men have you slept with, hm?"

Keith suddenly ran out of the hospital room and stepped in front of Lance.

"You need to leave."

Lance's father looked back down at Lance.

"What? Did you sleep with _him too?"_

He glared at Keith.

"Was he good? I bet you didn't even have to pay him, disgusting slut-"

Keith's fist was immediately at his face, sending the older man stumbling back.

Lance quickly stood up and went to Keith's side. 

"Keith! Oh my god!" 

They watched as Lance's dad steadied himself. 

"Don't you dare come home until I'm back at work."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith dragged Lance back into the hospital room.

They sat down in the corner of the room and Keith began to whisper to Lance.

"Come to my house."

"What? No, I'll just go to Hunk's house or something."

Keith grabbed Lance's hands and squeezed.

"Lance, _please_ come to my house."

Lance stayed quiet before swallowing the lump in his throat. 

"Okay."


	4. Keith's House

Keith helped Lance on to the roof.

"You're _sure_ your dad is asleep?"

"Yes! He's a night worker so he's probably exhausted, we still need to be quiet though since school was cancelled." 

Lance opened his window and climbed into his room, Keith followed after him. He grabbed Lance's shoulder and whispered to him.

"Do you think he told everyone?"

Lance frowned and looked away before whispering back. 

"Yes."

Keith sighed and sat down on Lance's bed.

Lance walked over to his closet and pulled out some clothes and a duffle bag. He quickly stuffed the clothes in before walking over to his desk and grabbing a few more of his things.

"Okay, I just need to get my stuff from the bathroom, stay here."

Lance slowly opened his bedroom door and began creeping down the hall. He walked into the bathroom and started stuffing the necessities into his bag.

Once he was finished he walked out of the bathroom and slowly shut the door.

Diego's door suddenly opened.

Lance gasped as he made eye contact with his younger brother, Diego stared at him in shock before scowling at him.

"What are _you_  doing here!?"

Lance flinched and tried to cover his brothers mouth. 

"Shh! Diego, please lower your voice!"

He pulled away from Lance.

"Why are you here!?"

"Diego listen, I don't know what dad said but I'm still the same person as before!"

Diego pushed him back.

"You're with that guy that you brought home right!? I knew it!"

"I'm not-!"

"Dad said that you're a  _slut,_ that you let other guys-!"

Keith burst out of Lance's room.

"Lance doesn't do any of that! Your dad is just a homophobic asshole!"

Everyone froze at the sound of someone running upstairs.

"What the hell-?!"

Lance's father stopped at the sight of Lance and Keith, he crossed his arms and glared at his son.

"Boy, didn't I tell you to stay out of this house?!"

Keith grabbed Lance's arm and pulled him towards his room.

Once they were inside he quickly shut and locked the door before running over to the window.

"Hurry up! Let's go before he figures out what we're doing!"

They both climbed out and off the house.

They quickly ran to the Jeep that was waiting for them, Lance threw his bag into the back seat before climbing in behind Keith.

"Okay Princess, now would be a good time to start driving!"

The car quickly sped away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I could hear you guys yelling from all the way outside!"

Lance leaned back and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry Lura, my dad is just-"

"You don't need to apologize, your dad is an asshole."

Lance sighed before grabbing Keith's hand and smiling at him.

Keith felt his face begin to heat up and he quickly looked away.

Allura suddenly laughed, startling the two boys.

"Lance, your clinginess is making Keith blush."

Lance quickly pulled away from Keith.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable!"

"No, it's fine, I'm just not used to people being so touchy."

Lance grabbed his hand again. 

"Well, I guess I'll just have to help you get used to it."

Allura pulled into Keith's driveway.

"Here we are!"

Keith started getting out of the car before looking at Allura.

"Uh, you can come in if you want.."

"Oh no, that's okay! I'm gonna head to the hospital to see your brother. I'll stay with him tonight, so you two should just relax here, you must be exhausted. I'll tell him you'll be back in the morning."

Keith opened his mouth to object but Allura stopped him.

"Trust me, you two need rest!"

Lance climbed out of the car.

"Okay, tell him we'll be there as soon as we wake up."

"Okay, okay! I'll stay with him all night, you too just relax!"

Lance and Keith climbed out of the car and shut the doors.

They both walked up to the front door before turning and waving to Allura, she waved back before giving them a thumbs up and pulling out of the driveway.

Keith turned to look at Lance.

"She's.. pretty cool, I like her hair."

"Yeah, she dyes it. Are we gonna stand here all day?"

Keith fumbled to get the key out of his pocket.

"I still can't believe _Pidge_ has a key for your house but  _you_ don't."

"...I got it taken away cause I kept staying out too late."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith opened the door and they both stepped inside.

"What were you doing staying out late?"

Keith opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sound of something running down the hallway. It jumped on to Lance and he let out a scream.

"Oso! Get down!"

Lance moved to get the large dog down.

"You didn't tell me you had a dog! He's huge!"

"He's a Great Dane and technically, he's Shiros dog."

Lance happily pet the dog and grinned.

"I always wanted a dog but my parents wouldn't have been able to afford it. Oh! He probably needs to use the bathroom!"

Keith walked into his kitchen.

"Nah, he has a doggy door but he _does_ need food and water."

Keith got the dog what he needed and made his way over to the stairs.

"We have a couple guest bedrooms upstairs, you can chose the one you want to stay in."

Lance followed him up the stairs and looked around in shock.

"Your house is _huge!_ What do your parents do!?"

Keith glanced back at him before walking down a hallway. 

"Um, they're both lawyers. This is my room though."

He pointed to two other rooms across the hall.

"The one of the left is Shiro's and the other is one of the guest bedrooms. My parent's room is down the other hall and there's another guest bedroom down stairs."

"Oh, I guess I'll stay in the one right here then."

Keith opened the door to the guest bedroom and motioned for Lance to go in.

Lance took a step inside and looked around.

The walls were painted a light blue and there was a large king sized bed with light green and blue bedding, a vanity table sat on the other side of the room along with a bathroom and closet door.

Keith leaned against the wall as Lance continued to look around the room in awe.

"Do you need anything? Like um, maybe water or are you hungry?"

Lance turned around and hugged him.

"I'm perfectly fine. Thank you for letting me stay here, I'm just gonna go to sleep, if you don't mind. I'll eat when I wake up though."

Keith's face reddened and he quickly nodded.

"I'll be in my room... If you need anything, just knock."

Lance smiled before nodding and watching as Keith shut the door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once Lance had finished putting his things away, he walked into the bathroom.

He stared at his reflection in disgust. 

_I go one day without washing my face and I'm already on the verge of a breakout!_

He grabbed one of his skin care products and walked over to what he thought was a closet.

He opened the door only to be met with a large bedroom.

The walls were white with a large bed with black bedding and a black desk covered in school supplies, a large yellow dog bed sat in the corner of the room and astronomy posters covered the walls.

Lance quickly shut the door and walked back into his room.

He kicked off his shoes and sat down on the bed, he could feel tears start to fill his eyes. 

"What am I doing here..?"

He stood back up and walked over to the vanity table, grabbing the bottle of melatonin he had brought with him. He quickly took one of the pills before changing into a baggy shirt, turning the lights off and climbing into bed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance opened his eyes to see the silhouette of someone standing over him.

He immediately screamed and pushed them away before quickly turning a lamp on. He looked down to see Keith laying on the floor staring at him in surprise.

"Keith!? You scared the shit out of me! What the fuck were you doing!?"

Keith stood up and stared at him with round eyes.

 _"You_ scared _me!_ I was just trying to turn the light on so I could wake you up!"

"You should have knocked first! What if I had been changing or something!?"

Keith groaned before sitting down on the bed.

"All the lights were off and I _did_ knock but you didn't answer. Anyways, it's already seven so we need to eat."

Lance sat up straight as he glanced at the other boy.

"Did you sleep at all?"

Keith looked away from him.

"I slept for a couple hours.."

Lance stared at him in suspicion before eventually sighing.

"Okay. Well, I have no pants on, so if you could just leave for a minute..?"

Keith turned red and quickly left the room.

Lance couldn't help but laugh as he got up and pulled his grey sweatpants on.

He walked into the hallway to find Keith, who was still blushing, leaning against the wall. Lance laughed loudly, causing him to blush even more.

"Okay mullet, what's for dinner?'

"I was thinking I could order pizza, well if you like pizza."

Lance leaned on to him.

"As long as there's no meat or mushrooms, god mushrooms are so gross."

Keith stared at the tear streaks on Lance's face.

"What? Don't tell me I'm breaking out!?"

"Oh! No, you're fine. One veggie pizza without mushrooms is on it's way."

Lance smiled before lightly pulling at Keith's hair.

"Thank's Mullet."


	5. Aya and Hiroya

Keith opened the door to his bedroom and walked inside, motioning for Lance to follow.

Lance walked in and looked around.

Red LED lights lit up the room and a mattress sat on the floor with multiple fluffy grey blankets on it. A wooden desk sat on the opposite side of the room, the wall behind it was filled with photographs and newspaper clippings all connected with red string, the other walls were covered in band posters and photographs.

Lance walked over to the desk, the first thing he noticed was a small newspaper clipping. 

"Local High School student shot..? Keith, what is this?"

Keith pulled Lance away from the wall.

"This town is... weird. I hate it here, I don't know what Shiro got involved in but I _know_ it's connected to everything else that's been happening."

"What's been happening..?"

Lance looked back and caught sight of a familiar face.

"Isn't that Daibazaal?"

Keith turned Lance around again.

"You're not friends with him, are you!?"

"No, I just have a few classes with him. Who are those girls with him?"

"I think he works with them but don't trust him  _or_ his family!"

Lance gave Keith a puzzled look. 

"You don't think they did that to Shiro, do you?"

"Honestly, I do. They're the richest family here, they basically control the town-"

Keith was interrupted by the sound of the door bell ringing. Lance climbed on to his bed and peered out the window. 

"I don't see any cars..."

The door bell rang again and Lance turned around to look at Keith who just stared back at him.

"What should we do..!?"

Keith quickly grabbed his knife from his desk and walked out of the room.

"Hey! What are you doing!? What if it's the  _guy_ _!?_ Keith, come back here!"

Lance groaned before getting up and running after him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance followed Keith to the front door.

Keith began to reach for the doorknob but Lance swatted his hand away.

"What if he has a _gun!?_ You have to look before you open the door!"

Lance quickly looked through the peephole.

"There's no one-"

A loud crash suddenly came from the living room, Keith ran into the room before Lance could even open his mouth. 

"Shit! Stay here-!"

Keith ran back out of the room, he quickly unlocked the front door and raced outside.

Lance remained frozen in the doorway.

"Keith?"

Lance waited for a response but it stayed silent.

He slowly took a step outside and looked around.

"Keith!?"

Lance jumped at the sound of a car door slamming.

He turned only to see a guy with three pizza boxes walking up the driveway, Keith ran around the side of the house breathing heavily but stopped once he saw the pizza guy.

Lance took the boxes and smiled at the man awkwardly.

"Uh, I'll go get my wallet."

Keith walked back over to him.

"I already paid for it."

The pizza guy looked down at Keith's knife and the broken window before backing towards his car.

"You guys have a good night..."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance sat down on Keith's bed.

Keith locked his bedroom door and sat down next to him.

"We'll just have to stay in here all night."

"So, it's just like a sleepover except there's some creepy guy that broke your window and now we're hiding from him!"

Keith awkwardly laughed before the room went silent.

Lance looked around for something he could use to break the tension, he caught sight of a CD player and walked over to it.

"You do have other music besides My Chemical Romance, right? Oh, there's already a CD in here!"

Keith stood up and started walking over.

"Don't touch it-!"

Lance hit play, a familiar song filled the air.

Lance stared at Keith in surprise.

"Really!? I love this song!"

Lance grabbed a slice of pizza and pulled Keith up from the mattress.

_Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick. The one that makes me scream, she said. The one that makes me laugh, she said._

Lance took a bite of the pizza before sitting it down and turning the music up. 

_Threw her arms around my neck. Show me how you do it and I promise you, I promise that I'll run away with you. I'll run away with you._

Lance started to dance and Keith watched in surprise.

"Come on, are you just gonna stand there?"

Keith gulped. 

"I can't dance."

"There's no one watching! It's just you and me, well and Oso."

Keith glanced at the dog sleeping in the corner before looking back at Lance. 

_Spinning on that dizzy edge. Kissed her face and kissed her head and dreamed of all the different ways I had to make her glow._

Lance held his hand out for Keith. 

"Well?"

Keith hesitated for a moment before slowly taking Lance's hand.

Lance immediately started dancing again. 

_Why are you so far away, she said why won't you ever know? That I'm in love with you, that I'm in love with you._

Keith gazed at Lance in amazement.

Lance simply smirked back at him. 

"What? Am I really _that_ handsome?"

_You, soft and only. You, lost and lonely. You, strange as angels._

"You're really pretty..."

Lance's face turned red and he quickly pulled away from Keith.

Keith immediately regretted what he had said.

"I'm so sorry, that was-"

"No, no, it's fine! It's just, no one's ever called me pretty before. You caught me off guard."

"Oh.. Well, you _are_ pretty-! Ah, you're attractive! I mean, I've just never noticed before and.."

Lance couldn't help but laugh. 

"Oh my god, you're _so_  awkward."

Keith looked down at the floor and frowned.

"That's not bad though! I'm awkward too,  _really_ awkward!"

Keith chuckled and looked back up at him. 

"Now, how about we finish these pizzas and continue dancing?"

Keith grinned and grabbed Lance's hand again.

"Yeah. That'd be great."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance laid sprawled out on Keith's bed.

"I'm _so_ tired..."

Keith turned the music off and glanced at him.

"Then go to sleep."

"Can I take off my pants?"

Keith's face reddened.

"What!?"

"Just my sweatpants jeez, I'm used to sleeping in my boxers."

Keith walked into his bathroom. 

"That's fine I guess.."

Lance threw his sweatpants on to the floor and climbed under the blankets, he closed his eyes and listened to the sound of water running from the bathroom.

He opened his eyes again at the sound of it turning off.

Keith walked out of the bathroom and turned the lights off, he awkwardly climbed into the bed and laid next to Lance.

"I usually sleep on that side."

"I'm too tired to move, if you wanna sleep here you'll have to move me yourself."

Keith groaned and rolled over.

"Goodnight, Mullet."

Keith muttered a simple goodnight and Lance yawned before quickly falling asleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance woke up to bright light.

He felt warmth next to him and he quickly sat up to look over at Keith.

"Hey, Keith?"

Keith let out a small grunt.

"Do you have coffee?"

Keith let out another small grunt in response.

Lance sighed and looked over at the clock Keith had on his desk. 

**9:32 AM.**

He lightly shook Keith. 

"Wake up, we need to go see Shiro."

Keith rolled over and glared at him before closing his eyes again.

"If you don't get up I'm gonna crush you."

Keith ignored him.

Lance climbed on top of him.

"I'm gonna do it!"

Keith opened his eyes and smirked at him.

"You wouldn't dare."

Lance found himself slightly blushing.

"I totally would."

Keith laughed causing Lance to blush again.

"What's so funny, huh?"

Keith suddenly flipped Lance over so that their positions were switched.

Lance gasped and stared at the other boy.

"What are you doing-?"

Keith's bedroom door suddenly swung opened. 

"Young man, I don't know why you're locking your door or what happened to the window but-!"

The woman who had intruded gasped and instantly slammed the door shut again.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Keith quickly got out of his bed and ran to the door.

"Mom, wait a minute!"

He opened the door and walked out before closing it.

"Is he your boyfriend!?"

"No!"

She gasped again.

"I understand you're upset about what's been going on but you shouldn't take it out by doing things like  _that_ with someone you're not even dating!"

"We weren't doing  _that!"_

Lance climbed out of bed and started searching for his pants.

After a few minutes of searching he gave up and cracked the door open.

Keith and his mother looked at him in surprise.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but could I talk to Keith for just a second?"

Keith walked back into his room, closing the door behind him.

"What is it!?"

"Where are my pants!?"

Keith stared at him in confusion.

"What'd you do with them last night!?"

"I just threw them on the floor!"

"You can't do that, Oso probably took them!"

Lance lowered his voice.

"Why the  _hell_ would the dog take my pants!?"

"He just does that! You can't leave stuff on the floor!"

"Why didn't you tell me anything then-!"

Keith's door opened slightly, Keith's mother stuck her head in.

"I'll give you two a couple minutes... I'll be downstairs."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance sat down next to Keith.

Keith's mother sat across from them and smiled.

Keith hesitated before speaking.

"Mom, this is my  _friend,_ Lance. I told Dad he would be staying with us for a few days since he's having family issues."

Lance smiled at her.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am."

She grabbed on to Lance's hands and squeezed them. 

"I've heard about you from Takashi. I heard you stayed with him, with both of my sons. Thank you."

She pointed at Keith and smirked.

"I know this one has a difficult time making friends but he's a good kid."

Keith turned red and stared at his mother in shock.

"You don't have to say stuff like that!"

"Oh hush, I'm sure he already knows how you act. Like you're such a tough guy but you're really just a softie."

Lance giggled before smiling.

"Well, thank you for letting me stay here."

"Of course! It's the least we could do, we couldn't just let you stay out on the streets. Make yourself at home!"

A phone started ringing from the other room.

Keith stood up and walked towards it.

"I'll get it."

He walked out of the room leaving Lance and his mother alone.

She leaned closer to Lance once he was gone.

"Now, I don't want to make you uncomfortable but earlier-"

Lance quickly interrupted. 

"Oh no, Keith is a great guy but... I like someone else. We weren't doing anything like that, ma'am."

She straightened back up in her chair.

"You don't have to keep calling me that, Aya is fine. That's a shame though... you seem like a wonderful boy. I'm glad Keith has a friend like you, I've only ever seen him with Takashi and Matt's little sister. How long have you two been friends?"

Lance swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Honestly, not very long... We just recently became friends. We didn't get along very well before."

Aya laughed and Keith walked back into the room.

"Dad asked if we were on our way. I told him we were about to leave. What were you two talking about?"

Aya stood up and patted him on the shoulder. 

"Nothing, sweetheart. You two go on and get dressed, hurry up now!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The three of them walked through the hospital.

Lance had decided to wear regular skinny jeans with a long sleeved yellow shirt tucked into his pants and white converse. Keith, on the other hand, wore black skinny jeans with a grey shirt, his usual red hoodie and black Vans.

Aya opened the door and walked in, Lance and Keith followed behind her.

"Hey honey! I picked up your brother and Lance, how are you feeling?"

Shiro smiled at her.

"I feel great. The doctor said I should be heading home today."

Lance looked at the older man standing next to Shiro's bed, Aya grabbed Lance's arm and led him over to him.

"Hiro, this is Lance. He's the boy that's staying with us."

Lance made eye contact with the man.

"Nice to meet you."

The man grinned at him.

"Lance! Takashi told me all about you! You're a swimmer, right?"

Lance nodded in surprise.

"What's your specialty?"

"Uh, breaststroke."

"I swam in highschool. Backstroke was my best."

Lance smiled at him. 

"That's my second best. Butterfly is my worst though."

"Isn't it like that for everyone? Ha, you can call me Hiroya-"

Shiro suddenly burst into a coughing fit, everyone quickly rushed to his side.

Lance grabbed the bottle of water next to his bed and held it out for him.

"Kashi, drink this."

Shiro grabbed the bottle from him and muttered a thank you.

A nurse knocked on the door and motioned for his parents to come out.

They quickly left the room to speak with the nurse, leaving the three boys alone.

Shiro looked up at the two of them in concern.

"Were you two okay last night?"

Lance opened his mouth to speak but Keith beat him to it.

"Why wouldn't we be?"

"..I was just asking."

Aya and Hiroya walked back into the room, Aya sat down next to Shiro and smiled.

"Takashi, the doctor said you're free to go!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that played in Keith's room is Just Like Heaven by The Cure.


	6. I Can't Return Your Feelings

Lance helped Shiro as they walked up the stairs. 

"Thanks, I can take it from here."

Lance nodded and watched Shiro walk over to his room. He opened his door and looked back at Lance. 

"You can come in, if you want."

Lance pulled at his sleeve before nodding.

"Okay.."

Shiro walked into his room and Lance followed behind him, they both sat down on his bed and Lance looked around the room.

"You're room is nice."

"Oh thanks, I forgot you've never seen it. I should have invited you over."

Lance smiled at him.

"Well, I'm here now. Oh, do you need anything?"

"Honestly, I just want to take a shower and go to sleep."

Lance stood up. 

"I'll help you-"

"No, I need to get used to this."

Lance watched Shiro walk into the bathroom, he turned the water on and started taking his shirt off.

After a few seconds of watching him struggle, Lance walked in. 

"Let me help you."

Lance carefully pulled off Shiro's shirt, he tossed it into the dirty clothes basket and looked back at him. He stared at the bandages that were wrapped around Shiro's shoulder.

"You have to take them off to shower, right?"

"Yeah."

Lance slowly unwrapped the bandages and stared at his wound with a frown on his face.

"Kashi, I'm-"

"Shh, it's fine, I just want to take my shower. Could you turn around for a second?"

Lance nodded and turned around to face the door. 

"Okay, you can stop now."

"Let me know if you need any help and be careful with your shoulder!"

Shiro chuckled. 

"You sound like my mother."

Lance leaned against the door, he kept his eyes on the floor.

"I'm just worried about you."

"I know, you don't worry so much. It's not that big of a deal."

"How am I supposed to  _not_ worry when you literally showed up outside my house, in the middle of the night with a bullet in your shoulder and your fucking arm torn-!"

Lance snapped his mouth shut.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you like that. I act like I'm the only one with problems but you're going through so much more than me and-"

Lance felt tears start to fill his eyes.

"I'll be outside, if you need anything just shout."

"Wait, Lance-"

"Just finish your shower, don't worry about me." 

Lance stepped out of the bathroom and leaned against the wall, quickly covering his mouth as he began to sob.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance carefully dried Shiro's hair with his towel.

Shiro stared at him before speaking.

"What happened with your family?"

Lance looked away from his gaze.

"Just a fight. My dad was upset that I got home late."

"That wasn't Keith's fault was it?"

"No. It was all my fault."

Lance hung the towel up and grabbed some more bandages and the ointment prescribed by the doctor.

He slowly started rubbing the ointment on to Shiro's shoulder. 

"Did you sleep well last night?"

Lance nodded and began wrapping his shoulder in the bandage.

"You should go to sleep early tonight, we all should."

Lance nodded again and stepped back.

"All done, do you want help with your shirt?"

"Please."

Lance carefully pulled the shirt over his head. 

"You should take a shower too."

"Okay, what are you gonna do?"

"I'll just lay in bed and watch Netflix or something."

Lance started pulling at his sleeve again.

"I'll be out in a few minutes."

Shiro walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He sat down on his bed and turned on the tv, after a couple minutes of scrolling through channels he got back up.

He walked back over to the bathroom and opened the door.

"Hey, I just realized I didn't tell you where the towels-"

He froze when he caught sight of Lance.

Lance gasped and quickly covered his chest with his shirt.

Shiro stormed into the bathroom and tried to pull the shirt away from him. 

"Stop!"

"What is that!? What happened to you!?"

Lance pulled away from him.

"Nothing happened!"

"Then why can't I see!?"

Lance looked down at the floor and sighed. 

"I just fell."

"Where!?"

"At school."

Shiro frowned.

"Can I see?"

Lance gulped before sitting the shirt back on to the sink, Shiro stared at Lance in horror.

"You did _not_  fall!"

"I did!"

Shiro walked over to Lance, he stared at the large bruises covering Lance's chest.

"You need to have this checked out-"

"I'm fine!"

"Says who?"

"Keith!"

Shiro looked at him in confusion.

"What? When did this happen!?"

"Two days ago..." 

"Lance, who did this?"

Lance started to pull at one of his belt loops.

"I already told you-!"

"Fine. You don't have to tell me but just  _know_ that I'm here for you whenever you need me."

Lance's eyes met Shiro's before he quickly looked away again.

"The towels are in the cabinet on the right."

Shiro walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Lance stood there for a few minutes before turning the shower on, he turned around and stared at himself in the mirror. He ran his fingers over the bruises before he started to sob.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone sat around the dining room table.

Lance sat next to Shiro and across from Keith, Aya and Hiroya sat at each end of the table.

Shiro suddenly stood up. 

"Dinner was great. I'm gonna head up to bed."

Aya grabbed on to his shirt.

"Wait, we need to talk first."

Shiro sat back down.

"Keith and Lance need to return to school tomorrow. Your father and me have already taken the next two weeks off so we'll be here with you."

Keith suddenly stood up, his chair squeaked loudly as it was pushed back.

"What!? It's only been two days! I can't go back to school, I need to stay here-!"

Hiroya stood up and picked up his plate.

"Keith, he'll be fine. You need to go to school."

Keith grabbed his plate and stormed out of the room.

Lance stood up, grabbing his and Shiro's plates.

"Dinner was delicious, thank you."

Aya smiled at him. 

"Oh, it was just simple pasta, don't flatter me. You two should get some sleep though."

Shiro got up and kissed his mother on the cheek.

"Goodnight. 'Night dad."

Lance started walking out of the room.

"Goodnight, thanks again for letting me stay here."

Aya waved him off.

"Don't worry about it! Goodnight boys!"

Lance and Shiro walked up stairs and down the hallway.

Lance looked over at Keith's room, his door was shut and he could hear music playing.

Shiro placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about him. Let's get ready for bed, okay?"

Lance nodded and walked into his room closing the door behind him, he changed into a baggy shirt and walked into the bathroom. He quickly did his nightly routine before sticking his head into Shiro's room.

"I'm finished, do you need any help?"

Shiro got off his bed.

"I'm fine, you can go ahead and go to sleep."

Lance smiled at him.

"Goodnight, Kashi."

"Goodnight."

Lance walked back into his room, closing the bathroom door behind him. He grabbed his bottle of melatonin and stared at it before sighing and putting it back down, he climbed into bed and turned the lamp on the bedside table off. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance woke up and turned to look at the clock.

_**2** _ **_:04 AM_ **

He sighed and rolled back over, closing his eyes.

He laid there for a few minutes until finally getting up and turning the lamp on, he rubbed his eyes and made his way to the bathroom in search of water. He opened the door, only to see Shiro quickly turn his head to look at him in shock.

"Oh, you're awake too? You scared me. I was just washing my hands-"

"I just needed water. You have cups in here, right?"

He reached for one of the cabinets towards the ground, Shiro tried to stop him but he had already opened it, the entire cabinet was filled with alcohol.

"Holy shit, why do you have all this!?"

"Parties.. and other stuff."

Lance reached for a bottle. 

"Hey, you're too young to drink!"

"I'm sixteen, I'm sure _you_ were drinking by then. Just let me have a couple shots!"

Shiro stared down at Lance who stared back up at him pouting.

He sighed before answering.

"You can have  _one_ drink."

Lance smiled at him and grabbed a bottle of Jim Beam.

He stood back up and shut the cabinet.

"I'll go get the ice and cups."

Shiro opened up another cabinet and took out two glasses and a small ice chest.

"Fill this up. Grab the bottle of orange soda too."

Lance nodded before taking the ice chest from Shiro and going downstairs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance watched as Shiro made the drinks, he poured a small amount of whiskey into Lance's cup. 

"What!? Come on, just a little more please?"

Shiro chuckled and added a small amount into the cup.

He handed the drink to Lance, who grabbed it and quickly took a sip. His eyebrows immediately scrunched up.

Shiro took a sip of his own drink.

"Have you ever done this before?"

Lance shook his head and took a bigger sip. 

"Don't drink so much so fast then. You're gonna make yourself sick."

Lance took another sip and smirked at him.

"I'm fine. You may have a low tolerance but I'm sure-"

Shiro took the drink away from Lance's lips and sat it down on the floor.

"Who has a low tolerance?"

Lance watched as Shiro finished his drink in one gulp.

"Are _you_ trying to show off?"

Shiro laughed and Lance grabbed his drink, tilting it back and gulping down the rest of it.

He sat the glass back down on the floor.

"Shit, I'm impressed. That was-"

Shiro grabbed a water bottle that was sitting next to his bed and handed it to Lance.

"Drink this."

"No, I don't need it."

" _Lance."_

Lance drank some of the water, he sat it back down and grabbed his empty glass.

"One more drink?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An hour later and they had both had three drinks.

Lance laughed at almost everything, causing Shiro to laugh along with him.

Lance just stared at him in awe.

"I.. I need to talk to you.."

Shiro looked at him and smiled.

"Aren't we talking right now?"

"No, this is  _serious."_

Shiro sat up straight.

"Yeah? What is it?"

Lance started to fiddle with his shirt.

"I know this is under horrible circumstances but I'm happy I'm here. We've known each other since Elementary school but last year I started to notice something. I'm sorry for doing this now but after what happened I realized I _needed_ to tell you."

Lance took a deep breathe.

"Kashi, I like you-"

Shiro covered Lance's mouth with his hand.

"No. I can't... You don't know what you're feeling. You're just confused-"

Lance pulled away from him.

"What do you mean,  _I don't know what I'm feeling?!,_  I know how I feel, Kashi!"

Shiro shook his hand.

"I'm sorry. I can't return your feelings, you're like a younger brother to me-"

Lance stood up.

"A younger brother!? You already _have_ a younger brother! Is that it? That's the only reason why!?"

Shiro looked up at him.

"...I'm already in love with someone."

Lance felt his breath get caught in his throat.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are they like?"

"...They're smart. Always getting themselves into trouble, they have _horrible_ fashion taste but they'd do anything for the people they love."

Lance smiled.

"Well, I hope things go well with the two of you, I'm going to sleep."

He grabbed the bottle of Jim Beam and quickly walked back through the bathroom to his room, closing and locking the door behind him, he leaned against the wall as the realization of the situation started to sink in.

He felt tears start to fall down his face, he walked over to his bed and grabbed his phone to call Hunk but ended the call after only three rings.

He grabbed his green shorts and quickly put them on, then he slid on his yellow flip flops and opened the window, climbing out.

He jumped down on to the ground and wiped his tears, a rusty black bike suddenly caught his attention. He looked back up at Shiro's room, his light was still on but he couldn't see him.

Lance opened the fence, he threw the whiskey and his phone into the basket before walking the bike out front and closing the fence behind him. He continued to cry as he sped off into the night.


	7. Dad's Suck

Lance laid sprawled out on the beach, the waves rose up to touch his feet.

He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the ocean and his music playing.

_You know I, I would wait a million years for this. But don't make me wait. I promise you, this could be somethin' you like. I promise that this could be somethin' you like._

Lance opened his eyes and looked up at the stars, he felt tears run down his face.

_Sweetheart won't you call my name? Wouldn't it be so nice if we felt the same? I wish you would try, try, try. I wish you would try, try, try. I wish you would try, try, try. I wish you would try._

Lance grabbed his phone and changed the song before throwing it back in the sand.

 _Is it true? You've been_   _feeling sort of low these days? Just don't have a place to go these days, must be bringing you down. If it's so, then come on,_ _give this lover boy a try._

The music stopped and Lance's phone started to vibrate, he picked it up and it stopped. 

**Missed Call from Ray Of Sunshine.**

Lance frowned and turned on do not disturb, the music resumed playing. 

_I'll put the sparkle right back in your eyes. What could you lose? Well for one, her heart belongs to another and no other heart will do._

Lance let out a sob and changed the song.

_Done, done is all the love, love that I had saved for you. Gone, gone with my heart, locked inside a cage for you. And once this that has become, has become of poor old me. Tried so hard to believe something that will never be._

Lance stood up, pausing the music.

He pulled his arm back and then moved it forward to throw his phone but another hand grabbed his, he gasped and quickly turned around.

"Kashi-!?"

He stopped once he saw who it was.

"What do  _you_ want?"

Lotor glared at him before pointing up at a large building sitting on top of a large hill a few feet away. 

"That's my friends club. One of the guests noticed you laying down here and assumed you were a dead body."

Lance looked back at the ocean.

"I might as well be..."

A girl that Lance hadn't even noticed suddenly spoke up.

"You should come inside. It's pretty cold out here and it's really late."

Lotor looked back at her to object but Lance started sobbing.

"O-Okay! I'm so sorry, I'm such a mess right now-!"

Lotor sighed.

"Just hurry up McClain, I don't like cold weather. Ezor, get his bike."

The girl picked up Lance's bike and an empty bottle.

"Whoa, did you drink all of this by yourself?"

Lotor took the bottle from her.

"What a mess. I'll carry you, get the rest of your stuff."

Lance put his shoes back on.

"I can walk by myself-!"

Lotor picked him up bridal style.

"The last thing we need is you falling down a hill. Just shut up and stay still."

Lance started to pout.

"How humiliating.."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lotor walked into the building still carrying Lance, the girl followed behind them.

"Good news everyone. No dead body, just this thing."

Lance hid his face in embarrassment as everyone cheered.

Lotor walked up a set of stairs and into a room.

Lance looked around, the room looked like something out of a 70's teen movie, Lotor sat him down on the bed.

"What's your address? I'm taking you home as soon as possible."

"I'm staying with a friend but you can't make me go back! Just let me stay one night here, please!"

Two girls walked into the room.

One of them was very tall with dark skin and her hair tied up into two buns. She was wearing dark blue skinny jeans, a plain black shirt, a purple bomber jacket and black high top vans.

The other girl was average height, she was tan and had dark wavy hair that was tied up in lazy bun. She was wearing black skinny jeans with a purple tank top, a black leather jacket and black laced up boots.

The taller girl spoke first.

"You scared the shit out of  _everyone._ You're lucky your a friend of Lotor's or a honestly would have pounded you-"

Lotor glared at her.

"Sorry, I'm not trying to scare you or anything. I'm Zethrid, the owner of this place. The moody girl behind me is Acxa, don't mind her she's just awkward around strangers."

Acxa groaned.

"I'm _not_ moody."

Zethrid laughed.

"See? Incredibly moody."

Lance smiled.

"I know someone like that too."

"Wow, maybe you have a long lost family member!"

Acxa rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall.

"He always does that too."

Zethrid laughed again, two more girls walked into the room.

Lance recognized one of them as the girl from earlier.

She was pale with her multicolored hair tied up in a high ponytail. She was wearing a dark green skirt, a hot pink crop top, large golden hoop earrings and white converse.

She was actually extremely attractive, at least to Lance.

She walked over to him and stuck her face right in front of his, she stared at him with her large emerald colored eyes before grinning.

"We haven't had a formal introduction. I'm Ezor, I already know what your name is. Nice to meet you!" 

She stuck out her hand, Lance reached up to shake it but Acxa stepped between them.

"Ezor, you don't even know him. You need to be more precocious."

Ezor stuck her tongue out at her.

"You're just jealous that I can _actually_ talk to boys!"

Zethrid leaned over to Lance's ear.

"Acxa is crazy about Ezor, that's why she's so jealous. Ezor is an oblivious idiot though, so she hasn't realized it. We all have bets on when they'll get together."

Lance looked at her in surprise before turning back to Ezor and Acxa who were fighting over something stupid.

Then Lance noticed the other girl standing over in the corner. She was tan and had a dark purple Hijab wrapped around her head, she was wearing a green sweater with regular skinny jeans and black boots.

Zethrid must have noticed he was staring at her because she suddenly spoke up.

"Narti, come over here and meet this kid!"

The girl slowly made her way over to them.

She reached out for the bed, Zethrid helped guide her until she was seated.

"This is Lotor's friend Lance. He's the one that everyone thought was a dead body."

Lance looked up at the girl and smiled. 

"Nice to meet you."

A black cat jumped onto the bed, it started pawing at Narti's pants.

"Kova, these are new pants."

Lance looked at the cat.

"Is he yours?"

"Yes."

"He's very cute."

Narti smiled.

Lance yawned loudly and Lotor stood up.

"Okay, he needs to go to sleep, everyone out."

Ezor groaned. 

"Let's just have a sleepover!"

"No, get out. You should all go to sleep too."

The girls reluctantly left the room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lotor sat down next to Lance. 

"Do you need a change of clothes?"

"Just a shirt would be nice."

Lotor left the room for a second before coming back with a large white shirt and a damp washcloth.

"Here, wipe your body off with this."

Lance took the shirt and the washcloth.

"Uh, could you turn around?"

Lotor sighed before turning to face the wall.

Lance quickly took his shirt off and wiped his body down, after pulling the new shirt over his head he collapsed on to the bed.

Lotor turned back to face him.

"You must really be drunk since you're actually being quiet."

Lance glared at him.

"Shut up."

Lotor laid down next to him.

"Why were you out on the beach? Don't you have school tomorrow?"

Lance sat up with wide eyes.

"Shit! Can you take me!? Please, I totally forgot!"

Lotor rubbed his temples in frustration.

"Just, go to sleep. I'll drop you off."

"Why aren't you going?"

"Family issues."

Lance rolled his eyes. 

"I know how that is."

"Really..?"

"Uh, yeah! I'm staying with Shiro cause my dad kicked me out of the house."

Lotor chuckled.

"My dad's kicked me out of the house before too."

"I guess dad's just really suck."

They both laughed.

"I'll take you by that football players house in the morning so you can get dressed. Don't tell _anyone_ about this though, especially Kogane."

"Pfft! He told me to stay away from you and your friends! Said you were all bad news and that you were probably the ones that did all that shit to Kashi!"

Lance laid down again and laughed.

Lotor's eyes widened.

"What makes him think that?"

"I don't know. He never got around to telling me but you know what, I don't think you're that bad."

_"Really?"_

"Yeah, why'd your dad kick you out?"

Lotor looked up at the ceiling.

"We have.. different views. He wants me to take over the family business but.."

"Well, what do you wanna do then?"

"Travel, I hate this town. Why'd your dad kick you out?"

Lance turned on to his side to face Lotor.

"People have been telling him I sell myself to other men."

Lotor looked over at Lance in surprise. 

"Do you..?"

"No. Maybe I should though, since everyone already thinks I do and I could use the money-"

Lotor grabbed Lance's hand.

"Don't."

Lance looked away from the other boy.

"I wanna go to sleep."

Lotor sighed before turning off the lamp.

"I'm waking you up at 8:45."

He took his shirt off and tossed it to the floor before climbing back under the covers.

"Promise me you won't do it though. That you won't sell yourself like that."

Lance nodded.

"Okay."

He quickly drifted off into sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lotor shook Lance awake.

He slowly sat up. 

"What-?"

"Hurry up, it's already nine. I slept through the alarm."

Lance quickly climbed out of the bed.

A pulsing headache shot through his head and he sat back down, groaning. Lotor handed him a bottle of water and two white pills.

"Hurry up and take these. Zethrid is waiting outside in her truck. Don't worry about changing, just get all your stuff."

Lance took the pills and stood up.

"Come to school with me,  _please."_

"I already told you-"

" _Please Lotor!"_

Lotor sighed.

"Shit! Okay, fine."

He ran into the bathroom.

He quickly brushed his teeth then washed his face. He grabbed his hairbrush and ran it through his long dyed hair, then put it up in a bun and ran back into the room.

He grabbed a plain white shirt and threw it on. Lance handed him a black leather jacket, he put that on and then pulled on black skinny jeans and white vans. He grabbed his back pack and Lance's arm before running out to the truck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance jumped out of the car and started pulling the bike out of the trunk bed. 

"Thank you guys so much."

Lotor smirked at him.

"No problem, McClain."

"See you in class, Daibazaal."

Lance waved to them as he ran into the back yard, closing the gate behind him. He put the bike back in its place and climbed on to the roof and through the window.

He plugged his phone into the charger and ran into the bathroom, quickly doing his morning routine. He heard the bedroom door open and he stuck his head out of the bathroom.

Keith stood in the doorway.

"You're finally up! I've been knocking on the door for an hour and then I had to find the key-"

His eye's widened.

"Your hair.."

Lance looked back at the mirror and realized his hair was in it's natural curly state. He covered it up in embarrassment.

"I usually straighten it."

Keith walked over to the bathroom.

"It.. looks good. You shouldn't mess with it."

Lance tried to hide his smile.

"I'll think about it but get out, I need to change!"

Keith scratched the back of his head before quickly leaving the room.

Lance ran over to the closet and pulled on his baggy greenish grayish pants, he tucked the white shirt Lotor had given him into the pants. Then he quickly put on his large black belt and his yellow jacket. A knock came from the door.

"Give me one more minute, I'm almost finished!"

Lance pulled on some white socks and black boots, he ran back into the bathroom and put some concealer under his eyes to cover the fact he had only slept for a few hours. He took one last look at his hair before smiling, grabbing his backpack and phone and running out of the room. 

"Okay-!"

Whoever had knocked before was no where to be seen now.

Lance made his way downstairs, everyone was sitting at the table eating breakfast.

"Good morning!"

Everyone looked over at Lance, who sat down in the empty chair next to Shiro. 

"I'm sorry I slept in late, I had a hard time falling asleep last night."

Aya smiled at him and handed him a plate.

"It's fine sweetie, just eat quickly. I made omelets, don't worry Takashi told me you don't eat meat. I like your hair though! Is it naturally curly?"

Lance looked over at Shiro. They're eyes met before he quickly turned away, Lance frowned.

"Thank you, I get it from my mother. Her hair is even curlier than mine."

Aya smiled at him.

"Well, hopefully I'll have the pleasure of meeting her one day."

Lance nodded and started to eat the omelet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aya climbed into the driver's seat of her car, Shiro sat down in the passenger seat. Lance and Keith got in behind them.

Lance looked over at Keith in confusion.

"He's getting his.. thing today."

Lance only nodded.

Aya turned the radio on, the car was awkwardly quiet.

Lance pulled his phone out of his pocket. 

**11 Missed Calls from Ray Of Sunshine**

**Ray Of Sunshine: Are you okay? Call me back when you can.**

**2 Missed Calls from Gremlin**

Lance turned his phone off and put it back in his bag.

They pulled up in front of the school, Aya turned around to look at them.

"Lance, do you need a ride home from school?"

"Oh, uh I'm not sure, I have swim practice so it will be later."

"Keith gives guitar lessons after school, so he'll still be here too. Let him know if you need a ride."

Lance looked over at Keith in surprise.

Keith kept looking out his window.

"Okay.. I will, thank you."

Lance and Keith got out of the car.

Aya drove away and Lance looked over at the other boy.

"I guess I'll see you in forth.."

Keith quickly walked away from him.

Lance sighed and started walking towards the front doors.

A loud honk suddenly came from the parking lot, Lance looked over and gasped.

Lotor sat in a red convertible with a smirk on his face.

"Hey, McClain! Get over here!"

Lance laughed and shook his head.

"We have class! You get over here!"

Lotor climbed over the car door and walked over to him.

"What do you think of the car?"

"Where did you even get that!? And what happened to us keeping _this_ on the  _low!?"_

Lotor smirked again.

"Took it from my dad's collection and I don't care if people know we're _talking,_ just don't tell anyone we slept in the same bed."

"Isn't your dad gonna be pissed and _trust me_ I don't want people knowing I slept in the same bed as  _you!"_

Lotor wrapped his arm around his shoulder and started walking.

"He'll get over it eventually, you didn't straighten your hair though?"

"Yeah, I think I like it curly."

Lotor opened the door for Lance before pointing at something.

"It's cute. Hey, isn't that Kogane?"

Lance looked over at where he was pointing to see Keith staring at them in shock. Lotor put his arm back around Lance's shoulder.

"He's just jealous."

"I told you yesterday-"

"Yeah I know, it's not like you two are even friends or anything though. I saw what he did to you earlier."

Lance was about to object but then he closed his mouth.

"I guess you're right.."

They walked by Keith and continued to their class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first song is Try by Molly Burch. The other two are No Other Heart and A Heart Like Hers by Mac Demarco.


	8. Raht

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Graphic Descriptions of Sexual Assault/Rape

Lance and Lotor walked into the classroom, Lance looked over at Pidge and Hunk.

Hunk stared at him with a worried expression while Pidge glared.

Lance ignored them and took his seat, Lotor sat down next to him.

"Okay class, because of recent events, I will allow you a free period. If you feel the need to talk to an adult-"

Everyone immediately turned to each other and started talking.

Pidge stood up and started making her way over to Lance.

Lance quickly walked over to his teachers desk.

"Mr. P! Hey, could I use the restroom?"

"Usually I would say no, since class just started but-"

"Great! Thank's Mr. P!"

Lance ran out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom.

He stood in front of one of the sinks and stared at himself in the mirror.

"What am I doing..?"

Someone walked into the bathroom.

Lance looked over and immediately turned back to the sink. The person walked further into the bathroom and Lance made a break for the door but he was quickly grabbed and pushed against the wall.

"Please-!"

A hand covered his mouth.

His eyes met the other boys, the same boy who had  _touched him._

Lance tried to pull away from him but he was pushed back into a stall. The other boy walked in, he closed and locked the door behind him.

"We never got to finish what you started the other day."

"I'll tell everyone!"

"As if anyone would believe _you,_ the town _slut."_

Lance was pushed up against the wall.

He looked at the boy, his hair was dyed light purple and his clothes were all black. A long red cut ran along his cheek. Lance smirked.

"Is that from Keith?"

The other boy scowled at Lance.

"Shut the fuck up."

"Why? You're upset cause he's better than you?"

The boy grabbed Lance's hair and pulled him back.

Lance let out a whimper.

"What'd you do to your hair? It looks ugly."

Tears started to fall down Lance's face, the boy groaned.

"I fucking hate that. Always crying, how old are you?"

Lance slapped him.

"Fuck you, asshole!"

Lance tried to unlock the door but he was pulled back again, the boy grabbed him by the neck and pushed him up against the door. Lance struggled to breathe, the boy let him go and pulled his phone out. 

"Open your mouth."

Lance glared at him.

"Now!"

Lance reluctantly opened his mouth and the boys fingers slid in.

Lance instantly gagged.

"Suck."

Lance's eyes widened, the boy started moving his fingers around. Lance let out a sob and lightly sucked, he heard the camera click.

"Meet me in the locker room during third period or this _will_ be on the schools website by lunch."

"You can't-!"

He opened the door and walked out.

"Fucking watch me!"

Lance listened to the footsteps echo as the boy left. He leaned against the wall and put his head in his hands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Lance?"

Hunk walked into the bathroom, Lance froze.

"Give me a second-!"

"Are you okay? You've been gone for thirty minutes."

Lance let out a sob.

Hunk opened the stall door.

"I'm sorry."

Hunk wrapped his arms around him.

Lance collapsed against him and hugged him back.

"I told him. I told Kashi how I felt."

Hunk squeezed him tighter.

"Last night?"

Lance nodded.

"I was drunk and he told me he already loved someone so I-"

Lance quickly shut his mouth.

"I just went to sleep."

Hunk let him go and walked him out of the stall.

"You'll find the right person eventually, buddy."

Hunk took out a pack of tissues and handed him one.

Lance wiped his tears and blew his nose.

"You have... drool."

Lance turned away from him and wiped his mouth before forcing out a laugh.

"Guess I got a little too worked up.."

"Are you ready to go back?"

Lance nodded.

"Yeah, I feel better now."

Hunk smiled at him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance sat down next to Lotor. 

"You okay?"

Lance nodded and forced a smile on his face.

"Yeah, just allergies."

Lotor crossed his arms.

"Yeah right, I'm not stupid."

The bell rang and Lance jumped up, grabbing his bag.

"See you in fifth!"

Lance quickly ran out of the classroom to his next class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time Lance's second class was over he was a jittery mess, he had taken his pills while they were watching a documentary but he couldn't calm down.

He walked through the crowded hallway to the swim teams locker room.

Once he was inside he looked around for someone but no one was there, he sat down on the benches by his locker.

After a few minutes the bell rang and he heard the door swing open, he stood up and watched the boy walk over to him.

"So, what do you want, _Raht?"_

"You finally figured out my name, good job."

Lance crossed his arms and glared at him.

"I need to go to class, so make this quick."

"Don't talk to me like that. I'm the one who has the photo of  _you._ Get on your knees."

Lance sat down on the floor.

"I don't understand what I ever did to you, I didn't even know your name!"

"You're just so fucking annoying. You're only a sophomore and you're already vice captain.  _I'm_ a senior, I should be where you are."

Lance smiled at him.

"I'm just a better swimmer than you."

"At first, I just wanted to fuck around with you but now since I have direct orders from the boss, I guess I should use you to my benefit."

Lance looked up at him in confusion.

"What do you mean _boss?"_

Raht unzipped his pants, Lance stood up.

"Hey-!"

Lance was pulled back down by his hair, he gasped in surprise. Raht pulled his pants down and forced Lance's head over to his crotch. 

"Work your magic, McClain."

Lance tried to pull away.

"Stop! I cant do this-"

"Oh, don't worry, I'll pay you."

He pushed Lance's mouth on to his member.

"Come on, open up."

Lance squeezed his eyes shut and tried to pull away.

Raht groaned.

"I'll fucking kill you if you don't open your mouth."

Lance glared up at him.

He grabbed Lance's face and pried his mouth open, quickly shoving his member in. Lance gagged and tried to pull away but Raht held his head in place.

He pulled out a small pocket knife and opened it, putting it up to Lance's cheek.

"Try anything funny and I won't even hesitate."

Lance closed his eyes again.

"Hurry up!"

Lance slowly started to move his head up and down.

"Don't forget to use your tongue, slut."

Tears filled Lance's eyes.

Raht lightly pushed his knife into Lance's cheek, Lance ran his tongue along the underside of his member and started to move faster. Raht pulled on his hair and groaned.

"Yeah, just like that, fuck-"

He started to thrust into Lance's mouth, Lance gagged again and tears fell down his face.

Raht pulled out and Lance felt warm liquid splatter on to his face. He wiped himself off with a cloth before throwing it at Lance.

"I'm impressed. No wonder that football player likes you so much."

Raht zipped up his pants before taking his phone out and taking a photo of Lance.

"I'm leaving. See you at practice, McClain."

Lance listened as he walked away, stopped and walked back.

"Oh, I almost forgot, here."

Raht walked out of the locker room.

Once Lance heard the door click shut, he opened his eyes and grabbed the cloth. He quickly wiped off his face in disgust, then he noticed the money sitting on the bench.

He gagged and ran into the bathroom, throwing up into the toilet. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance walked into his class.

Everyone gave him worried glances, Mr. Coover walked over to him.

"Lance, you're twenty minutes late. Hunk told me you missed your last class too."

"I'm fine. I was upset but I'm better now."

"If you need to talk to someone, I'm here or I could schedule you an appointment with-"

Lance stared down at the floor.

"Can you just give me the assignment?"

Mr. Coover nodded and Lance sat down in his usual seat.

Hunk turned to face him.

"Have you been taking your medicine?"

Lance ignored him and stared down at his desk, Pidge waved her hand in front of his face.

"Hello? Earth to Lance?"

Lance looked up at them.

"What?"

Someone put their hand on Lance's shoulder.

He flinched and stood up before turning around, Keith stared at him in shock.

"Don't fucking touch me-!"

He quickly covered his mouth and ran over to the trash can, throwing up into it.

Mr. Coover walked over to him.

"Okay, Hunk take him to the nurse-"

Lance stood up and grabbed a tissue, he wiped his mouth off and threw it away.

"I'm just gonna leave-"

Keith started to walk over to him.

"You don't even have anywhere to go. You're sick and you need to get some sleep."

Lance reached for the doorknob.

"Lance-!"

"Can you just fuck off already? You ruined everything. I would still be with my family if I hadn't decided to be nice to you, I don't even fucking  _know_ you! You're just some annoying emo kid that nobody likes, your parents didn't even like you so they dumped you on the fucking street! You're _so_ lucky that Kashi is nice to someone like you, some  _drug dealer_ that's stalking Lotor and his friends!"

Keith looked hurt for a second before scowling at Lance.

"I swear to god, I'll fucking kill you asshole-!"

Mr. Coover quickly got between them.

"That's enough! Keith, sit down. Lance-"

Lance opened the door and ran into the hall.

"Lance!"

Lance ran until he got to his locker. He unlocked it, grabbed his bag and slammed it shut again.

He ran outside and felt his pockets for his phone but realized nothing was there.

"Oh no, no, no, no, shit!"

He ran back into the school and down the hallway towards the class.

The door was still shut, he peeked through the small window. Pidge, Hunk and Keith were talking but Mr. Coover was no where to be found.

Lance opened the door and sheepishly walked into the classroom.

"I just left something behind.."

He grabbed his phone and turned around to see Mr. Coover and the principle standing in the doorway.

"Mr. Iverson..."

"You're all coming to my office."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance, Keith, Pidge and Hunk all sat in Iverson's office.

"I know you're all friends with Takashi but you can't let this little  _incident_ affect your school work."

Keith crossed his arms.

"He almost  _died._ He had to get his arm amputated, he's my  _brother!"_

"He's still alive, that's all that matters."

Pidge stood up.

"Matt is still missing. My  _brother_ is still missing, he could be  _dead!"_

"Sit down, Ms.Holt. Your brother will be found."

"You don't know that-!"

" _Sit down."_

Pidge sat down and glared at him.

Iverson turned his head to look at Lance and Keith.

"I don't _know_ what's with you two but fighting is not tolerated on campus."

He shook his head before looking at Hunk.

"And _you,_ Mr.Garett, I expected better from you."

"But I didn't do anything-?"

Iverson held up a small note.

"We received a complaint about you all selling pornography. If you really need the money. I suggest getting an after school job. Since this is a major problem, I'm going to have to contact your parents."

Lance stood up and walked over to his desk.

"You can't do that! My dad will kill me!"

"I guess you should have thought about that before."

Lance sat back down and put his head in his hands. 

"You're all going to have ISS tomorrow. Wait here until your parents come to get you, now get out of my office."

The group quickly walked out of Iverson's office.

Pidge glared at Lance.

"I don't know what your problem is but _why_ would you tell _Iverson!?"_

"You think Iwas the one that told him!? Why would I get _myself_ in trouble!?"

Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Well, maybe since you're just trying to get _attention-!"_

Keith got between them.

"I think I know who did it."

Lance's eyes widened.

"Hey, you said-!"

"Shut up, Lance! I'm telling them."

Hunk suddenly spoke up.

"Telling us _what?"_

Lance started to panic, he grabbed on to Keith's jacket.

"Nothing! He's not gonna say anything because it's _my_ personal business that has _nothing_ to do with him!"

Keith pushed Lance off of him and lowered his voice.

"The night that Lance got in a fight with his dad, some guy was-"

"Shut up! _Please,_ shut up!"

"You can't just _ignore_ this, Lance!"

Lance pushed him back.

"You weren't even supposed to be there-!"

"I _saved_ you! If I hadn't been there, you would have gotten _raped-!"_

Lance slapped Keith.

His whole body began to shake.

"You're such an asshole!"

Hunk walked over to them.

"Is that true..? Why didn't you tell us!?"

"It _isn't_ true! I'm fine-!"

Keith pulled Lance's shirt up to reveal his bruises, Lance quickly pulled away from him.

"Oh, Lance..."

Tears fell down Hunk's face as he stared at his friend.

"Hunk, I'm _fine!_ Really, don't worry about it!"

"You're my best friend! I can't believe something like this was happening to you!"

Lance wiped his tears.

"Hunk, please stop crying..."

A car door suddenly slammed, Lance looked out the window and saw his fathers truck.

"I have to go! Please, don't tell anyone about this! It was my fault, I'll explain it later, just don't tell anyone!"

Hunk nodded and wiped his tears.

"I'll call you later. Keith, I don't need a ride home!"

Keith tried to grab Lance's arm.

"Wait-!"

Lance ran out the door right as the bell rang.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lotor walked outside to his car with Narti and Ezor.

Ezor laughed loudly as she tried to catch her breath.

"Yeah and I was actually-! Wait, is that Lance?"

Lotor looked over to see Lance sitting in the backseat of his car.

"Hey, Lotor! Since you guys are going out for lunch, I was thinking-"

"What happened?"

Lance let out a fake laugh.

"I'm fine!"

Lotor sighed.

"Ezor, you drive. I'll get in the back with him."

Ezor opened the passenger door for Narti.

"Drive _where?"_

"Anywhere. We're done with school for the day."

Ezor got in the drivers seat.

"Yes! Sorry Narti, we all know how much you _love_ school."

"Well, if someone's upset..."

Lotor got in next to Lance and they sped off.


	9. Zethrid's Club

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Underage drinking and smoking.

Ezor turned the radio up.

_Damn, look at the_ _sunrise. Glowing finish line, made it in record time._

She put on a pair of yellow sunglasses and looked back at Lotor, lowering her voice.

"Is he okay?"

Lotor nodded and held Lance as he cried, Ezor pulled into a gas station and turned the music off.

"Narti, let's get snacks."

Ezor and Narti walked inside, Lotor rubbed Lance's back slowly.

"Do you want to talk about it..?"

Lance sat up and wiped his tears.

"I'm sorry, we just started talking and I'm already pushing all of this on to you-"

"We all have our problems, it's better to talk about everything than to keep it to ourselves."

Lance nodded.

"Last night, I told Shiro how I felt about him. That's why I was on the beach, I couldn't be there after that and we had been drinking-!"

"Wait, so you  _liked_ him?"

"I had a crush on him, yeah. But it was just a crush, with all this stuff going on, I thought I might as well tell him. Now that I think about it, it's not that bad! It's not like I was  _in love_ with him or anything. I just thought he was cool-! I guess I haven't ever really been in love with anyone, it's all just been pointless-!"

Lotor pressed his finger up to Lance's mouth.

"Calm down, we're only kids. We haven't even graduated high school, crushes are still rough."

"Have you ever been in love with anyone...?"

Lotor leaned back and looked up at the sky.

"No."

Lance leaned against him.

"Maybe once we leave this town."

Narti and Ezor walked out of the store, Ezor threw three bags into the car.

"I told Zethrid and Axca to meet us at the beach. I got snacks and drinks and oh-!"

She handed Lance a pack of tissues. 

"Oh. Thank you."

"Gimme your phone for a second."

Lance took out his phone and handed it to her, she messed around with it for a few seconds before handing it back.

"I gave you all of our numbers, since you seem like you're gonna be hanging around. Text me whenever."

"Thanks..."

Ezor turned the music back on and pulled out of the gas station.

"To the beach!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance stuck his feet into the water, Lotor stood next him silently.

A car door slammed shut and Lance turned around. Acxa and Zethrid made their way over to the rest of the group, Axca pulled a cigarette out and lit it.

"I thought you decided to go to school today?"

Lotor wrapped an arm around Lance.

"Change of plans."

Ezor grabbed the cigarette from Acxa and took a hit. 

"Gross! How do you smoke that everyday!?"

She handed it back to her.

"I'm used to it- You got your lipstick all over it!"

"Good, you could use some lipstick!"

Ezor stuck her tongue out at the other girl before leaning against Lotor.

"Hey Lance, you should stay the night! We can have a big slumber party!"

"I don't know, I'm already staying with someone."

"Just tell them you're staying with a friend! We'll take you to school!"

Lance scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Actually, I have ISS tomorrow."

"ISS on a _Friday!?_ No way, you're skipping!"

Lance looked up at Lotor who just sighed.

"Okay, no school tomorrow _and_ a sleepover."

Ezor jumped up and cheered.

"Yes! Let's go swimming, it'll be so much fun!"

Ezor pulled her green sundress off to reveal a tan bralette and matching boy shorts.

Lance immediately turned red, Lotor lightly pushed her away.

"It's too cold for that, you're gonna get sick again."

Acxa pulled Ezor away from Lance.

"Put your dress back on!"

"What? Are you jealous of my _gorgeous_ body?"

"You're being too revealing!"

Acxa pulled Ezor's dress back on.

"You barely know him! Are you _trying_ to get assaulted!?"

Lance looked down at the sand, Ezor glared at Acxa.

"Maybe I am! Why do you even care, you  _hate_ me! You act like you're my  _girlfriend_ or something! Can't you just  _fuck off!?"_

Acxa blinked a few times before turning around and walking back over to Zethrid's truck.

"I'm ready to go."

Ezor groaned loudly and turned to Lotor.

"Me too!"

Lance looked up at Lotor.

"Are they gonna be okay..?"

"They always fight like this, it's fine."

Ezor climbed into Lotor's car.

"Forget her! She's just jealous that I'm not afraid of a good time! Let's get this party started!"

Everyone climbed into the car, Lance looked at Lotor in reluctance. He sighed before leaning back and waving him off, Ezor turned the radio up.

 _Well, it was last week and you ran out of the house. I heard his sparkomatic and when you came back I felt you losing touch. I knew you_ _couldn't be trusted._

Ezor slammed her foot on to the gas and they took off down the beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith got out of his mothers car and ran into the house.

Aya quickly climbed out of her car.

"Keith! You wait right there, we need to talk about this with your father!"

Keith quickly ran upstairs and barged into Shiro's room.

Shiro flinched and stared at him in surprise, he closed the book he had been reading.

"Why are you home so early-?"

Keith grabbed the book and threw it at the wall, Shiro flinched again.

"What the  _hell_ happened last night!?"

"Keith, you need to calm down-"

Keith pushed his hair out of his face and groaned.

"No! I heard you last night! I _heard_ what he said to you!"

Shiro stood up in surprise.

"Wait..? Were you eavesdropping on us!?"

"No-! Well, yeah I guess but after he said what he said to you, I went back to my room-!"

"Why would you do that!? That was a _private_ conversation, you had no business listening to us!"

Keith chuckled and crossed his arms.

"What? So, are you guys _dating_ or something now!? Did you do it with him last night!? Is that why you're so pissed, cause you're worried I heard you two!?"

Aya suddenly stormed into the room.

"That's enough! Keith, get downstairs  _now!_ I don't know what's going on but it's being settled right now!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance sat on the floor in Ezor's room while she went through her closet.

She pulled out a red crop top and smiled.

"This would look  _so_ cute on you!"

"Oh, I don't wear crop tops-"

Ezor sighed dramatically and threw herself on to her bed.

"Boys would _totally_ rock crop tops if they weren't so self conscious."

"I just don't want people to think-"

Ezor rolled her eyes.

"Think _what?_ That you're  _gay?"_

Lance swallowed the lump in his throat.

"This town is kinda homophobic, if you haven't noticed."

"We're at Zethrids club! This is basically the  _spot_ for people in the gay community! Trust me, no one will care that you're wearing a  _crop top!_ That doesn't even mean you're _'gay'_ it's just a piece of clothing! I could even do your makeup for you!"

Lance bit on his lip before hesitantly nodding.

"Just a little bit of makeup and I don't think red is really my color."

"You would look gorgeous in _any_ color but I'll pick out a different shirt. Good thing we're pretty much the same size. Tall people need to stick together!"

Lance laughed and watched as she started going through her closet again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith ran into the backyard and threw the gate open.

Aya ran out after him.

"I swear to god-! You better come back inside!" 

Keith pulled his motorcycle out of the shed and took it over to the gate.

"Keith, don't you _dare_ leave this property!"

He climbed on to it and started the engine.

"You are in so much trouble-!"

The bike roared out on to the street and down the road.

Aya slammed the gate shut in frustration.

"Shit!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ezor patted pink glitter on to her cheek bones while Lance reapplied his concealer.

She handed him a pair of black leather pants.

"These are stretchy, so they should fit. Make sure you take off your boxers or else you'll be able to see them."

"So, I have _no_ underwear?"

"Oh, it has padding, don't worry you won't be able to see anything like  _that."_

Lance walked to the other side of the room and pulled his pants off.

"Don't look."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Lance pulled off his boxers and pulled the leather pants on, he folded his other clothes and sat them by his bag.

Ezor turned around and grinned.

"I knew you'd look good in them! Your ass looks _great!"_

Lance's face immediately turned red.

"Well, it's not a lie. Come here, let me put some makeup on you."

Lance walked over and closed his eyes while she put some eyeshadow on him.

"By the way, are you trying to get laid tonight or not?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith banged on Pidge's front door.

After a moment, she opened it and glared at him.

"Yes!? How can I help you!?"

"Can you find out where Lance is!?"

Pidge looked over at Keith's motorcycle before moving out of the doorway.

Keith walked inside and closed the door.

"This is really easy, you know. Don't you have his number?"

"Yeah..?"

Pidge grabbed her phone off the counter and opened an app. After a few seconds, she showed it to Keith.

"Ever heard of find my friends? You both have iPhones, use them. He's at that one club, the one on the beach."

_"Daibazaal's club!?"_

"Yeah, that one."

Keith ran out of the house.

"Remind him to call Hunk!"

Keith sped off down the street, Pidge closed and locked the door before returning to her laptop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance grabbed a different red crop top from Ezor.

"This will keep most guys away."

Lance looked at the small white letters on the shirt and laughed.

"Not your baby?"

"Gotta keep the perverts away."

Lance pulled off his shirt and pulled the other one on.

"Ooo, what happened to your chest?"

"I hadn't worked out in a while, so I got bruises."

"Oh. We can cover it, let me change though."

Ezor pulled off her dress. Lance quickly turned around again.

"You don't have to do that, I don't care if you look. _Everyone's_ seen me naked, I don't sexualize nudity."

Lance slowly turned back around.

"Oh."

"If you're not comfortable, I understand."

"No! I just want to respect you, I wouldn't wanna take advantage of you."

Ezor pulled her bralette off and threw it into the laundry basket before pulling on a pink lacy one. She did the same with her underwear, putting on matching boy shorts.

Lance stared down at the floor the entire time, Ezor laughed and pulled on a sparkly hot pink mini skirt.

"You're really nice. No wonder Lotor likes you so much."

"We _just_ became friends. We didn't really get along-"

She pulled on pink knee high boots and glanced up at him.

"Trust me, it's hard for him to _really_ get along with people and you two  _really_ get along."

Ezor grabbed some makeup products and started covering Lance's bruises.

"Does it hurt?"

"It's been a couple days, so I'm fine now."

She finished and backed up to admire her work.

"There! You can kinda see it but it's dark downstairs, so no one will be able to tell." 

Lance looked at himself in the mirror before smiling at her.

"Thanks."

"What size shoe are you?"

"I'm usually an eight in mens."

Ezor pulled a pair of red boots from her closet.

"I'm a size ten in women's, which is _about_ an eight in mens, so these should fit."

Lance slid the boots on.

"You know, I had Lotor wear something similar to this. It was purple though, after that he _never_ let me dress him up again. He always wears white shirts and black jeans."

"I think it's pretty attractive..."

Ezor smiled.

"Maybe we can do his hair later, speaking of hair yours is _so_ cute! I always wanted curly hair but mine's just kinda wavy."

"Usually I just straighten it..."

"No! Never _ever_ straighten it again!"

A knock came from the door.

"Who is it?"

"Lotor."

Ezor opened the door and grinned at him.

"Look how hot we look!"

She grabbed Lance's arm and posed next to him, Lotor smirked and walked into the room.

"Red's a good color on you."

"Thanks."

Ezor started pulling Lance out the door.

"Let's get this party going!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith sat on his bike between the large hills that lined the beach.

The sun was starting to set and he could see the large club sitting on one of the larger hills.

He sighed and grabbed a hair tie, he put his hair back in a small pony tail and continued through the hills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance looked around at all the people dancing throughout the club.

Ezor grabbed his arm and led him over to the bar, a tall woman with short black hair leaned over the counter.

"How can I help you?"

"Two-!"

Axca walked down stairs and met eyes with Ezor.

"One bottle of vodka!"

The bartender laughed.

"You're only seventeen, Ezor. Don't make me call Zethrid."

"She doesn't need to know. I'm pissed, I  _need_ to get wasted, I'm skipping tomorrow so it's fine. Plus, I'm sharing with this guy."

The bartender looked Lance up and down.

"Aren't you the dead body?"

"Uh, yeah..?"

"And how old are _you?"_

Lance started to pull at the hem of his shirt.

"I'm sixteen..."

The bartender sighed.

"Kid's these days are unbelievable. You're lucky you're sixteen, that's the lowest I'll go."

She handed Ezor the bottle of vodka, Ezor grinned.

"You're the best!"

"Yeah, yeah, get outta here."

Ezor pulled Lance away from the bar and on to the dance floor, she opened the bottle of vodka and chugged some down.

 _"Shit!_ I'm so mad!"

She handed it to Lance. He hesitated before taking a sip, he immediately gagged and shook his head.

"It's so strong!"

"That's what makes it good!"

_I've got a case of the haunting, I've got a taste of the madman in my mind. Well, I used to sleep at night._

Ezor gasped.

"I _love_ this song!"

She grabbed Lance's hand again and started to dance.

_Moving like everyone's watching. Shake out the shadows, freak out the phantoms, love. You're more than just a dove._

They laughed and danced along with everyone else in the club. 

_She's my light, she's my daredevil halo tonight. The world's on fire but we don't care. We don't care, touch me. Everyone's watching but we don't, we don't care._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith walked into the dimly lit club, he made his way through the crowd of people and leaned up against the wall.

Familiar laughter filled the air and his eyes caught on to Lance.

He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket before lighting it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ezor took another sip of the vodka.

"This guy is _totally_ checking you out."

Lance smirked.

"Is he hot..?"

"He's kinda short but he has his hair up and he's smoking a cigarette. I haven't seen him before so he's probably just some horny bad boy wannabe."

Lance grabbed the bottle from Ezor.

"Just what I need, I think I'll avoid him."

"Holy shit, he's coming over here!"

"What!?"

Ezor took the bottle back from Lance.

"If he's creepy I'll tell him off!"

Lance turned around and met eyes with the boy.

"Keith!?"

Keith pulled Lance towards him.

"What are you doing here!?"

He pulled Lance down and whispered into his ear.

"I _told_ you to stay away from them!"

Lance stepped away from him.

"I'm fine, I don't need you guarding over me."

"You've been drinking!"

People in the club started to look over at them. Lance rushed out of the crowd and up the stairs, Keith began to run after him but Ezor got in front of him.

"You can't go up there without permission-!"

Keith ran past her and up the stairs.

Lance frantically knocked on Lotor's door, he opened it and looked at him in confusion. Lance pushed past him and tried to close the door but Keith was already there.

He forced the door open and glared at Lance.

Lance hid behind Lotor to cover his body.

"Keith, you need to go home! Your parents-!"

"I can't go home! I left because I was worried about _you!"_

Lotor sighed in frustration.

"You two obviously need to talk things out, I'll go downstairs and sort out everything."

Lotor left the room.

Lance stared at the floor, Keith leaned against the wall and brought his cigarette up to his lips.

"Why didn't you listen to me!? I told you to stay away from Lotor and-!"

"They're good people! I don't know why you hate them so much!"

"They  _hurt_ Takashi-!"

"You have no proof! It's all just some crazy theory, Lotor is a  _great_ guy! His friends are great too!"

Keith took another drag from his cigarette. 

"So, what? You like Lotor now, you got over my brother that easily?"

"Fuck you! I don't know what your problem is but you need to stop! This is  _my_ life! I don't even know where you got that idea from!"

"You ran up here so he could protect you! I should be the one protecting you from  _him!"_

Lance glared at him.

"I don't need _anyone_ to protect me from anything! I can take care of myself!"

"If you can take care of yourself, why are you here!? Why'd you have an anxiety attack in forth period!? Your dad and some other asshole are fucking with you and I want to help! Hunk and Pidge do too! Why can't you just let people help you!?"

"I'm  _fine!_ Everything is under control, okay!? My dad will go back to work and that guy is already gone! You should be worrying about Kashi and Pidge should be worrying about her brother!"

"We're your _friends, I'm_ _your friend!_  We wantto help you!"

"You are.. You aremy friend but.."

Keith put his cigarette out in a bowl.

"You said.."

"Listen-!"

"I'm not doing this again. I just-! Let me stay here with you. If you really want to stay here, so will I. I _want_ to be friends with you-! Sorry, that's just.. I'm trying really hard and I don't want you to get hurt, my parents left me and I thought Shiro had left me too... We had just started to get close and then you started to pull away again!"

Lance walked closer to Keith and grabbed his hand.

"I'm really sorry for everything I said, I'm so mean to you, I _know_ I am and you're opening up to me but I'm just _such_ an asshole-!"

Keith squeezed his hand.

"I know it's hard with your dad and your anxiety and everything else that's been going on."

"I'm so sorry about what I said about your parents. I remember your mom, she was a good person and I'm sorry about what happened to her. It doesn't matter what people say, she cared about you Keith. Aya, Hiro and Kashi all care about you, I care about you too!"

Lance tried to hold back his tears.

"Shit, I'm really drunk. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I care about you so much."

"You're rambling, calm down."

Lance threw his arms around Keith and started to sob.

"I'm so sorry! I always act like I hate you and like I'm so confident and nice and I know everyone and I just want to relax! And _god,_ I care about you so much you're so caring and sweet and you're kinda awkward but everyone is, you just show it more! When did you start smoking? I've never seen you smoke, I guess I never paid attention, I'm so horrible."

He pulled at Keith's ponytail.

"You finally did something with your stupid hair, huh? I've always liked guys with longer hair, sorry I was a dick about it. It's nice, really nice. You should put it up more often."

A knock came from the door and Keith lightly shoved Lance off, Lotor walked in and looked at them in suspicion.

"Are you two okay?"

"Lance is... Very drunk."

Lance sat down on the bed.

"I'm not even that drunk! I was just being honest and saying what was in my head!"

"You _just said_ you were drunk."

Lotor rubbed his temples in frustration once again.

"Kogane, are you staying here?"

"If I can, then yes."

"Okay, then get out of my room, there's a guest room two doors down. You can take him with you."

Keith sighed and grabbed Lance's arm.

"Let's go, you need to go to sleep." 


	10. Turn Off Your Phone!

Lance laid sprawled out on the guest bed with his eyes shut.

Keith sat down next to him, the door suddenly opened.

Lotor stood in the doorway with his arms crossed.

"Can I talk to you out here, privately?"

"What?  _Me?"_

"Yeah, you. Hurry up and get out here."

Keith walked out of the room and Lotor shut the door. 

"Don't try anything in there with him."

"What do you mean?"

"You know, he's drunk and you like him or whatever-"

Keith's eyes widened.

"What-!? I don't like him!"

"Why else would you drive out here? Besides, I see how you look at him, you're just _dying_ to get your hands _all_ over him."

Keith glared at him.

"I drove out here because I'm a good  _friend!_ I'm not _dying to get my hands all over him_!"

"I'm not stupid, Kogane. I can see that you're attracted to him."

"I'm not-!"

Lotor leaned against the wall.

"So, you don't think he's attractive?"

"No-! Well, yeah I mean... Yes! I think he's attractive but I don't  _like_ him!"

"Sure, just don't touch him-"

"Are you kidding!? I should be the one saying this to _you!_ Your family is nothing but bad luck and Lance shouldn't be involved in it! Besides even if I _did_ like him, which I don't, he's with my brother and-!"

Lotor smirked.

"Oh, I see how it is, he's with your _brother._ Weren't your parents associates of my parents?"

Keith looked down at the floor as the color drained from his face.

"That's what I thought. I'll be nice to you around Lance because I like him but you're still an asshole."

Lotor turned around and started walking back down the hall.

"At least I'm not a _murderer."_

Lotor froze for a second before chuckling and continuing to his room.

"Sweet dreams, Kogane!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith laid down next to Lance and frowned.

"Are you asleep..?"

Lance slowly opened his eyes before laughing loudly.

"Nope, what did he want?"

"Just told me to go to sleep."

Lance sat up.

"Yeah, _sure..._ I'm hungry, let's get food."

"I thought we were going to sleep."

Lance got on to his stomach and poked Keith's cheek.

"Well, I'm hungry. I have money in my bag if you need it, it's in the first room on the right. Get my clothes too, please?"

Keith glared at him for a few seconds before getting up.

"Why do I have to do it?"

"Cause apparently, I'm too drunk and should be sleeping."

Keith continued glaring before walking out of the room.

"Your glare doesn't affect me, mullet!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith threw a water bottle across the room, purposely hitting Lance.

"Ow!"

"Why didn't you tell me that was someones bedroom!?"

"I though you'd assume-"

"Well, I _walked in_ on two of those girls!"

Lance sat up in surprise.

"What!? Who!?"

"The one with the rainbow hair and the girl with the bun."

"Holy shit!"

Keith put Lance's stuff on a table and walked over to the bed as Lance laughed loudly.

"The bartender made nachos-"

"Yes! Thank god, I'm starving."

Keith watched as Lance quickly ate the nachos.

"So, your outfit is _different..."_

Lance immediately blushed.

"Oh! I forgot I was wearing this, it probably makes you uncomfortable sorry..."

"No! Red looks good on you..."

"You think so..?"

Keith nodded.

"It looks great. You look..."

"Hot?"

"Yeah-! No! I mean-!"

Lance started laughing again.

"Your hair looks good like that, you should put it up more often."

Keith's face flushed at the compliment.

"I just put it up so it'd be out of the way while I was riding my bike."

"You look good though. Really good, your bike is cool too! I haven't seen you ride it in a while."

"I got in trouble for sneaking out a while back, so it was taken away."

Vibrating suddenly came from Lance's bag, he quickly got up and pulled out his phone.

**Incoming Call: Unknown**

An uneasy feeling washed over Lance, Keith grabbed a nacho and sat down.

"Who is it?"

"Oh, it's an unknown number. I'm not gonna answer it."

Lance sat back down on the bed.

Keith stared up at the ceiling while Lance stared at him.

"So, you're gonna get all shy again-?"

"Did you ever call Hunk?"

"I'll call him later..."

Keith rolled over and looked at Lance.

"He was crying until his mom came. He's really worried about you, Pidge is too."

"I know but what am I supposed to say! It'll just make them worry more! They have more important things to deal with, so do you!"

"They're gonna find out eventually. You need to be honest with them."

Lance crossed his arms and looked down at the bed sheets.

"I'll tell them tomorrow, we can go over to Pidge's house or something."

"Okay, but you  _need_ to tell them."

"I will, I'm sorry for hitting you earlier. I know you're just trying to help me and-"

Keith smiled at him.

"It's fine, besides you didn't even hit me that hard."

Lance gasped dramatically.

"Are you saying I'm _weak!?"_

"That's not what I'm saying-"

Lance giggled.

"I'm just kidding, mullet. Don't be so serious all the time."

He moved closer to Keith and gently grabbed his face. 

"Does it hurt..?"

He brushed his thumb over his cheek.

"No, it's fine..."

Lance moved slightly closer to Keith's face.

"I don't really see anything..." 

He suddenly looked up and made eye contact with Keith. 

"Your eyes are really pretty..."

Keith immediately sat up and crossed his arms.

"We should get ready to go to sleep!"

"Yeah..."

"You can use the bathroom first."

Lance nodded and got off the bed.

He walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. He silently stared at his reflection before covering his face with his hands and groaning.

"What am I doing..!?" 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance sat on the bed in his boxers and Lotor's shirt.

He started biting his nails before sighing and falling back on the bed, the bathroom door opened and Keith walked out. Lance stared down at the bed as Keith sat down next to him.

"We should get to sleep."

Lance continued to bite his nails.

"I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

He stood up and looked out the window before facing Keith.

"I think I'm gonna go to Lotor's room..."

"Why!?"

Keith stood up and walked over to Lance.

"I can go to another room if you want me to-!"

"I just want to talk to him! You don't need to freak out-!"

The sound of sirens suddenly filled the air, Keith grabbed Lance's arm.

"We need to go!"

"What!? Why would cops come here!?"

Keith groaned and grabbed Lance's bag.

"Just get dressed!"

"Do you think your parents-?"

"I don't know! Hurry up, we need to get out of here!"

Lance started pulling his clothes on.

"Do you think we'll get arrested!?"

"We're underage in a club and you're completely wasted. Plus, we both _technically_ ran away so yes, I do think we'll get arrested!"

Lance grabbed his bag and pulled his shoes on.

"How are we gonna get outside-!?"

Lotor abruptly burst into the room.

"That asshole led the cops here!"

Keith glared at him.

 _"Me!?_ How do we know  _you_ didn't call them!?"

"I'm underage! Why would I get myself in trouble!?"

Ezor stumbled in and leaned against the wall.

"They're trying to get upstairs..."

"How much did you drink!? Shit, go get Axca! I need to help Narti, Kogane help everyone out on to the roof."

Keith quickly opened the window, Lance stared at him in shock.

"It's a drop off! How are we gonna-!?"

"I'm just gonna listen to him, you trust him right!?"

Lance nodded.

"Good, cause I don't."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lotor climbed out the window with Narti following behind him, he looked around at everyone sitting on the roof.

Keith crossed his arms.

"Now what?"

"There's a ladder, it's really old though so only one person at a time."

Keith crawled over to the other side of the roof.

"Okay, I'll go first."

"Ezor, you go after him. Then Axca, Narti, Lance and I'll go last."

Keith glared at him again.

"Why does _Lance_ have to go right before _you?"_

"Does it matter?"

"Yes-!"

Lance groaned.

"Let's just go!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lotor finished climbing down the ladder and peeked around the side of the house.

"That's your bike, right?"

Keith looked around the corner.

He spotted his bike, some cops stood a few feet away with their backs to it.

"Yeah."

"Okay, we'll leave first and while the cops are distracted-"

Keith grabbed Lance's arm and ran towards his bike.

Lotor's eyes widened before he grabbed Narti's arm and ran towards his fathers car, Keith pulled Lance on to his bike and quickly started it.

Lotor's car took off down the street.

Keith drove between the cops.

"Sorry!"

Kolivan's eyes met Keith's.

"Kogane!"

Keith took off down the hill, Lance wrapped his arms around him.

"Oh my god, we're gonna die. We're gonna die-!"

"Shut up!" 

"Don't you have a helmet or something!?"

"I didn't have time to grab it when I was leaving! Just hold on!"

Lance tightened his grip on Keith as the bike sped up, he looked back at the club to see the cops climbing into their cars.

"They're coming!"

"Stop freaking out, I know what I'm doing!"

They made a sudden left and drove between two of the large hills.

Lance let out a surprised shriek.

"What are you-!?"

They made another sharp left before the bike stopped and Keith pulled the keys out, he pulled Lance off the bike and on to the sandy hill.

"Don't make a sound."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They listened to the sound of cars going by.

After a few minutes it went quiet, besides the sound of the wind and the ocean.

Lance looked at Keith in surprise.

"I guess you're often on the run, huh?"

"What-?"

Vibrating starting coming from Lance's bag again, he pulled his phone out and looked at the Caller ID.

**Incoming Call: Unknown**

He hit answer and put the phone to his ear.

"Who is-?"

A familiar voice filled his ear.

"Hey, you ignored me earlier. Don't be so rude."

Lance's eyes widened and he stood up, he walked a few feet away from Keith and lowered his voice.

"What do you want!? I can't talk right now!"

"You didn't show up to practice, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"It's none of your business-!"

"It  _is_ my business. I need to keep track of you, maybe we can meet tomorrow night."

Lance stood speechless before clearing his throat.

"Um, no. I have things to do, you can't just expect me to clear my plans-!"

"If you don't want those photos to come out then I suggest you listen to me."

Lance looked over at Keith, who gave him a confused look. He turned around again and looked up at the sky.

"What do you want?"

"Maybe a continuation of today."

A wave of nausea washed over Lance.

"I'll just stop talking to Rolo, okay!? I'll quit the team, just leave me alone!"

Raht chuckled.

"This is more than that now, sweetheart. I have direct orders from higher up."

"What are you-!?"

Keith stood up.

"Who are you talking too?"

Lance pulled the phone away from his ear.

"Just one minute, okay?"

Keith crossed his arms and leaned back on the hill, Lance put the phone back up to his ear.

"I have to go-!"

"Are you with Kogane?"

"Yeah..."

Raht chuckled.

"I guess I'll let you go, but we _are_ meeting tomorrow."

"Fine! I don't have a car or anything though-!"

"That's fine, I can come to you."

Lance could practically see the smirk on his face.

"Kogane doesn't know anything, does he?"

"No!"

"Good, it better stay that way. If anyone asks where you're going tomorrow just say it's a date."

"No way-!"

"Listen to what I say. Have a goodnight, sweetheart."

The call ended and Lance threw his phone back into his bag.

"What an asshole!"

Keith walked over to him.

"Who was that..?"

Lance forced a smile on to his face.

"Just a friend, he wants me to help him out with some homework tomorrow."

"Which friend..?"

Lance's phone started vibrating again, he groaned before pulling it out of his bag.

**Incoming Call: Ezor**

"Oh, it's Ezor."

"You have her number-!?"

_"Shh!"_

Lance answered the call and put the phone up to his ear.

"Hello-?"

Ezor's giggling filled his ear.

"Where are you two? I'm tired and-!"

Lance could hear Ezor and Lotor arguing before the phone went to Lotor.

"We're at the convenience store, the first one at the end of the road. We're parked behind it."

"Do you want us to meet you?"

"Yeah, we need to figure out where we're staying for the night since Kogane got the cops to show up."

Keith scoffed, Lance shot a glare at him.

"We're on our way."

"Don't let the cops catch you."

"Mhm, sure thing."

Lance ended the call and started biting his nails.

"Where are we supposed to go? We can't take them to _our_ house's and they obviously don't have anywhere else to stay!"

Keith thought for a second before speaking up.

"We could go to Pidge's house."

"Her parents aren't back yet?"

"I don't think so..."

Lance sighed.

"Wow, we all have such _great_ parents. I guess you can call her."

"Why me!?"

"She's mad at  _me!"_

Keith groaned and pulled his phone out of his pocket, Lance started biting his nails again before gasping.

"Oh! Make sure you turn off your phone when you're done. That's probably how they found you."

"Yeah, you should too. That's how I found  _you."_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance quickly knocked on Pidge's front door.

The door swung open after a few seconds and she glared at the group.

"Keith, you didn't mention all these other people."

Keith scratched the back of his head.

"Well..."

Lance grinned.

"We knew you'd say no."

Pidge sighed and rubbed her temples in frustration.

"Put your stuff in the garage and turn _all_ your phones off, last thing I need is some cop trying to get in my house."

Lance hugged Pidge.

"Thank you! You're the best!"

Pidge pulled away and smirked at him.

"Well, since you're here and you have a car, you might as well help me with something."


	11. Underage Kids Found in Clubs All Over Town

_Lance sat at the kitchen table with his_   _family, his mother smiled at him._

_"How was school? I heard that-"_

_The front door opened, everyone turned to see who had walked in._ _Lance grinned once he saw the woman standing in the doorway._

_"Sara!"_

_The woman sat her bags down and sat down next to him._

_"Sorry I'm late, work has been hectic all week."_

_Their mother smiled at her._

_"It's fine, as long as we get to see you. How's Ava?"_

_"She's great! Last weekend we went-!"_

_Lance's father suddenly stood up._

_"I don't want to hear about that bitch while I'm eating my dinner."_

_"Don't talk about my girlfriend like that."_

_"It was hard enough for me to accept you being queer but you could at least get with a decent woman!"_

_Sara quickly stood up._

_"Just stop it! You need to get over yourself! I'm your daughter, it shouldn't matter who I'm with as long as I'm happy! Why can't you just be happy for me!?"_

_Lance grabbed his sisters arm._

_"Sara, stop it-!"_

_"No! You're the same, Lance! I know that you're dating that boy, the one with the motorcycle! He makes you **happy!** You shouldn't have to hide it-!"_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance sat up and gasped, he realized he had been crying and quickly wiped away his tears.

Lotor sat up in confusion.

"Are you okay..?"

"Just a bad dream..."

Lotor moved closer to him.

"Do you want to talk about it..?"

Lance looked over at Keith, who was sleeping down on the floor.

"No."

"How about we go outside and get some air?"

Lance slowly nodded before standing up. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lotor handed Lance a blanket and sat down next to him.

"You can't really see the stars here, can you?"

Lance looked up at the sky and frowned.

"Too many lights..."

He looked back at Lotor.

"Why do you all stay there..?"

Lotor looked at him and sighed.

"My father, he doesn't care about me. He only wanted someone to take over the 'family business.' He sent me to a boarding school in 6th grade. I left during the first week, they called to tell him I ran away and he didn't start looking for me until a  _month_ later. Apparently he was too busy with work, which was fine with me. I met Zethrid during that time, she was in high school then and she was living in a group home. After my dad took me back home I still stayed in touch with her, now she has that club and we all stay there. She lets other people stay there too, kids who have no where else to go."

Lance grabbed Lotor's hand.

"What about your mom..?"

"She's the same as my father, they're both obsessed with power and  _money._ I grew up with a nanny, I barely even  _saw_ my parents once I turned six."

"That's horrible! Do they even care that you don't live with them!?"

Lotor couldn't help but laugh.

"They never even notice when I'm gone! I'm sure they will now since I took one of their cars, they probably wouldn't even respond to the police."

"Lotor..."

"What about you? What's so shitty about your family?"

Lance looked down at the ground and bit lightly on to his lip.

"I think I'm bisexual, I _know_ I am. I haven't actually come out to anyone but it's a small town and I _guess_ I dress kinda feminine, so all my dad's friends talk shit about me. He's a truck driver and he's rarely home but when he is it's a nightmare-!"

Lotor moved closer to Lance and wrapped his arms around him.

"You haven't come out to  _anyone?"_

Lance shook his head.

"My friends all kinda know, since they knew about my crush on Kashi but I've never officially  _come out_ to anyone. It feels good to actually tell someone."

"I'm glad you can be honest with me. It feels good telling you about my parents, it's like a weight's been lifted."

"You've never told anyone..?"

"Zethrid and everyone know but I never really..."

Lance looked at him and frowned.

"You never show how you _really_ feel..?"

"Yeah! I don't want to worry them, they're in much worse situations then me. I don't  _lie_ to them but I guess I kinda hate talking about it."

"Me too! It's just hard cause I don't know how they're gonna react! I know if it were them I'd want them to tell me but-!"

Lance felt tears begin to fill his eyes.

"See-! Whenever I try to talk about it, this happens!"

"You have anxiety, right..? Narti has anxiety, she rarely talks to others. That's why she's so quiet around you, she was in an accident when she was little and she lived in the group home with Zethrid."

"I was diagnosed with social anxiety when I was eleven. My oldest sister always helped me with being 'nervous' but after my dad kicked her out, it got a lot worse."

"Why'd he kick her out?"

"Because he's a homophobic asshole! I can't even see her, I know she lives in California but I don't know where. She has-! _Had_ a girlfriend, I don't even know anymore!"

Lotor pulled Lance closer to him as he started to sob.

"Just breathe. Focus on your breathing, I'm here with you."

Lance wrapped his arms around Lotor. 

"You're such a great guy, why weren't we friends before?"

"Don't worry about it, the sun's rising."

Lance looked up at the sky, the sun was starting to slowly rise over the hills in the distance.

"It's already almost seven."

Lance leaned against Lotor.

"This is nice, just watching the sunrise and talking about emotional shit."

Lotor chuckled and pulled the blanket on to the both of them.

"We should go back inside and get some more sleep before Pidge makes me drive her to the docks."

"Can't we just sleep out here..? I don't wanna go back inside."

Lotor sighed and stood up.

"Let's at least move to the couch then."

Lance stood up and looked at the small couch sitting on the porch with an umbrella over it.

"An outdoor _sofa?_ How convenient."

He laid down on it and immediately stretched out.

"Way better than the one inside."

Lotor laid down next to him and spread out the blanket.

"Stop talking and close your eyes."

Lance moved slightly closer to him and slowly shut his eyes.

"Goodnight..."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith opened his eyes and groaned, Pidge clapped her hands in his face.

"Wake up! Do you know where Lance is?"

Keith sat up and looked around the living room.

"He's not-?"

"Lotor's gone too."

Keith quickly stood up.

"Is the car gone!?"

"No, no one can find them though."

Ezor walked downstairs and leaned on the railing.

"They're probably making out somewhere."

Keith glared at her.

"Lance wouldn't do that with _him."_

Acxa walked downstairs and over to the back door.

"Lotor wouldn't leave without telling us, so they have to be around here somewhere. You have a big house, they're probably just in some other room."

Ezor walked over to her and crossed her arms.

"Where are  _you_ going?"

"I need a smoke..."

Ezor stuck her tongue out at her.

"Smoking's _gross,_ I won't kiss you if you smoke!"

Acxa turned red and her eye's widened.

"Shut up!"

"You're so cute when you get embarrassed."

Acxa walked outside and pulled a cigarette out of her pocket before gasping, Ezor poked her head outside and giggled.

 _"Ooo,_ found them!"

Keith ran outside, Ezor leaned against him and smirked.

"Looks like they have some _chemistry..."_

"They're just friends! Lance has a boyfriend-!"

"Whoa, you don't need to get so defensive. It's not like _you're_ his boyfriend-!"

Acxa grabbed Ezor's shoulder and frowned.

"Ezor..."

Keith rushed back inside and slammed the patio door shut.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance sat up at the sudden loud noise, he looked at Ezor and Axca in confusion before blushing and quickly shaking Lotor awake.

"What? I'm tired, I'll drive her there later."

"Wake up!"

Lotor sat up and looked around. 

"What? We're just laying together."

Lance suddenly burst out laughing as he looked back at Lotor.

"Your _hair!"_

He continued laughing loudly and Ezor soon joined in.

Lotor laid back down and covered his face with his hands, Lance then laid down on top of him as he tried to contain his laughter.

Lotor put his hands down and looked at Lance with a red face.

"Is it really that bad..?"

Lance nodded and covered his mouth to try and prevent his laughter from returning, Lotor pinched his cheek.

"It's not _that_ funny!"

Lance started laughing again.

"I can't-! I can't _breathe!"_

His laughter continued and Lotor glared at him before snorting.

Lance looked at him in surprise, the back door opened and Pidge stuck her head outside.

"Lance, can you  _shut up?_ I have breakfast stuff in here if anyone can cook, cause I sure as _hell_ can't."

Ezor ran past her and into the kitchen, Pidge looked back at everyone and smirked.

"She's  _hot..."_

Acxa flicked her on the forehead and frowned.

"She's not interested in _dwarfs."_

Pidge gasped in shock.

"I already like someone for your information, I'm just _saying_ she's hot."

Acxa glared at her before they both walked inside, Lance looked at Lotor with a smile on his face.

"At least they get along..?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone sat around the living room with plates full of food, Pidge sat down next to Keith and gave everyone a threatening glare.

"If anyone gets food  _anywhere,_ I swear to god I'll kill you."

Lance leaned back and took a bite of his toast.

"We get it, we won't make a mess."

Ezor grabbed a remote from the coffee table and turned the TV on.

**Underage Kids Found in Clubs All Over Town.**

She immediately laughed and looked back at the group.

"Wonder who they're talking about, maybe your dad paid them off to say there were multiple? Wasn't there only like, _three?"_

Lotor sighed.

"At least he didn't put out a search warrant for me."

An older woman with long gray hair, tan skin, high cheekbones, red lipstick and a professional looking outfit appeared on screen with the reporter.

"It's horrible. I know if I found out  _my_ child was hanging around a place like that, they would receive a _severe_ punishment."

She looked directly into the camera with a disproving look on her face before it cut back to the news anchors.

Pidge rolled her eyes.

"What an old hag, she probably doesn't even  _have_ kids. Who would wanna do  _anything_ with her?"

Narti suddenly spoke up.

"Wasn't that your mother..?"

Lotor crossed his arms.

"Yes."

Pidge's eyes widened.

"I didn't mean what I said! I'm uh, sorry..."

"No, it's fine. She _is_ an old hag, I barely consider her my mother."

He stood up and smiled.

"Anyways, let's get going. We don't have enough room for everyone, so at least two people will have to stay."

Ezor stretched out on the couch and yawned.

"I'm _super_ hungover, so I'm staying."

Acxa moved closer to her.

"I'll stay too."

Lotor looked over at Narti.

"Narti?"

"I'll stay."

Lance put his plate in the sink.

"I wanna go!"

Keith stood up.

"I'll go too."

Lotor grabbed the car keys off the counter.

"Okay, I'm ready when you're ready."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pidge grabbed the AUX cord and glanced at Lotor.

"Can I play my music?"

Lotor grabbed a pair of sunglasses that were hanging on the rear view mirror and put them on.

"As long as it's not country."

"It's definitely not country."

Lance leaned back and pulled out his phone.

**Ray of Sunshine: Are you ok? You never called :( See you at school.**

"Shit, Hunk's gonna be so mad..."

Keith crossed his arms and lit a cigarette.

"Let's go see him later, so everyone can  _talk."_

Lance ignored him and turned his phone back off.

"So, why are we going down to the shipping docks anyways?"

"I think it's where Matt went missing. I went through all his stuff and it looks like he had been going down there almost every night. Probably for his astronomy stuff."

"Do your parents even know?"

"They can't get out of work since it's some  _secret government thing_ and no one's allowed to leave until it's over. They called me though, I think my mom thinks he's dead..."

The breaks suddenly slammed on, Pidge turned to Lotor in shock.

"What the hell, dude!? Look out for stop signs! Jeez!"

"Sorry, um do _you_ think he's dead..?"

"No way! I _know_ he's still alive, he's my brother! I'd know if he... It's sibling intuition! You're an only child, so you wouldn't understand. Lance, you get it right?"

Lance quickly nodded.

"Yeah, I always know when my siblings are upset and stuff. That's just how it works."

"Right! So, I  _know_ he's still out there and I'm gonna find him no matter what."

Lotor returned his attention to the road.

"Well, I hope you find him."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pidge walked over to a tall metal fence and looked back at the three boys.

"Let's go, we don't have all day!"

Keith grabbed Lance's arm.

"This place is owned by Lotor's family, doesn't it all just seem a _little_ suspicious-?"

Lance pulled away from him.

"Even if his family has anything to do with it, it doesn't mean _he_ does. He's not his father, you of all people should understand that."

He walked over and helped Pidge over the fence, Lotor looked back at Keith and smiled. 

"I'm not gonna do anything to you, Kogane."

"I'm not worried about  _myself..."_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pidge sat behind a large crate, she pointed to a small building behind them.

"Here's the plan, all the guards besides the one in that office are out front. Lance and me will hide by the door, you two can stay here and make a ton of noise. Once you get the guard outside, go back to the car. I'll download the security footage and we'll be out of here. It shouldn't take more than ten minutes to get this whole thing done, got it?"

Keith crossed his arms.

"Do I have to be partnered with-?"

"Yes! Don't get caught!"

She started creeping towards the building. Lance followed after her and they hid behind another crate, she gave a thumbs up to Keith.

He turned to Lotor and frowned.

"What are we supposed to do..?"

"Just knock stuff down."

Keith picked up a rock.

Pidge's eyes widened and she started waving her arms in the air, Lotor quickly turned back to him.

"That's not-!"

Keith threw the rock at the building, glass shattered and they heard a man curse.

The door swung open and a man walked out.

"Can't you idiots watch where you're moving shit!?"

Lance froze as he recognized the man, a loud crash came from Lotor and Keith's area.

"Shit!"

Raht took off in their direction, Pidge ran inside.

"Lance! Come on!"

Lance swallowed the lump in his throat and ran after her.

Pidge pulled out her laptop and many wires, she connected them to a computer and started working. 

"Okay, I got it. It just needs to download."

"Hurry! He's coming back!"

"Just a few more seconds!"

Lance bit down on his lip.

"We need to hide!"

He quickly hid behind a filing cabinet, Pidge put her stuff back in her bag.

"Done!"

She ran to the other side of the room and hid behind the long jackets hanging on the wall.

Raht walked back inside and sat down, he threw a stack of papers into the air and groaned.

"Shitty boss, sending me out here with these idiots just cause I'm still in high school."

He pulled his phone out and smirked.

"Maybe I'll call that kitten, he'll make me feel better."

Lance felt his heart drop as he fumbled to get his phone out and turn it off.

One of the coats suddenly fell of its hook, Raht stood up in surprise and pulled out a knife. He slowly started making his way over to Pidge.

Lance jumped up and ran over to the door before pulling it open and running outside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance ran through the maze of crates, he could hear Raht's footsteps somewhere behind him.

A barn like building came into view, he quickly ran inside and up to the second floor. He hid behind a set of curtains and covered his mouth with his hands.

Raht's footsteps echoed through the building.

"I _know_ you're in here, kitten. You better come out or I'm gonna get angry."

A door slammed shut and Lance flinched, Raht slowly started walking upstairs. 

"McClain, you're really starting to piss me off..."

The curtain was suddenly ripped off the window, Raht smirked and pushed Lance back against the wall.

"I said I'd come to _you,_ didn't I?"


	12. The Photos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Rape/Sexual Assault

Lance forced a smile on to his face. 

"Uh, surprise..!"

Raht grabbed Lance's hair and threw him on to the floor.

Lance yelped and tried to get up before he was kicked in the stomach, he gasped and struggled for air.

Raht leaned down and glared at him.

"Get on your knees, _now."_

Lance tried to get up only to collapse again.

Raht groaned.

"If you had listened to me, I wouldn't be treating you like this. Here, how about this? If you make this fast, I won't tell Zarkon anything. He won't know you snuck in here, okay?"

Lance looked at him in surprise as he struggled to sit up.

"R-Really..?"

"If you hurry up."

"What do you want..?"

Raht started unbuttoning his jeans. 

"Just do what I say."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance gagged as Raht trusted into his mouth, Pidge banged on the barn door from downstairs.

"Lance! Are you okay!? Say something, _anything!?_ Lance!"

Raht grunted as he trusted into Lance's mouth again.

"Can she _shut up?"_

Lance started to sob, Raht only rolled his eyes.

"Just suck it, use your tongue."

Lance obeyed and continued to gag.

Pidge suddenly stopped yelling and banging on the door, Raht shut his eyes and groaned loudly.

"Shit, I'm close."

Lance tried to pull away but Raht held his head in place.

Lance's eyes widened as he realized what was going to happen, he tried to pull away again.

Raht pulled his hair.

"Don't fucking move, slut."

Lance squeezed his eyes shut.

Raht thrusted again, Lance felt something warm shoot into his mouth and he shuddered.

Raht finally pulled out and sighed, Lance tried to spit out the fluid but Raht slapped him.

"Open your mouth."

Lance kept his eyes shut as he slightly opened his mouth, Raht forced his mouth open wider and took a photo.

"Now, swallow."

Lance looked up a him in disgust. 

_"Swallow."_

Lance swallowed the bitter fluid and gagged again, Raht buttoned his jeans and squatted down.

"Next time, we'll use  _that."_

Lance looked at him in confusion before Raht grabbed his ass and squeezed.

_"That."_

Lance pushed him away in disgust.

"No fucking way, I'd rather  _die."_

Raht slapped him again and stood up.

"Watch your mouth, I'll call you later."

Lance stared down at the floor while he listened to Raht leave.

Once he heard the door shut, he completely broke down. Tears streamed down his face as he started to hyperventilate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The barn down suddenly opened again.

Lance gasped and tried to stand up, a wave of nausea washed over him.

Keith ran up the stairs.

"Lance!? Are you okay!? Where'd he go!?"

Lotor rushed past Keith, Lance started to shake and his sobbing increased.

"Give me a minute, just leave!"

Lotor sat down next to him.

"Hey, just breathe. We're not gonna do anything to you, is it okay if I touch you?"

Lance shook his head as another sob escaped his lips.

"I'm so dirty, you can't!"

"You're not dirty. No matter what happened, you're not dirty, I promise you I won't ever think that."

"But I am! I _let_ him do that! It's my fault! It's _all_ my fault, I should have listened to my dad!"

"It's not your fault. You did nothing wrong."

Lance looked over at Keith, who was frozen in shock and Pidge, who was trying to hold back her tears.

Lance gagged again and threw up on the floor, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. 

"Go away!"

Lotor made eye contact with Lance.

"We're all gonna leave but we need to get to the car first, okay? Can I carry you?"

Lance hesitated for a moment before reluctantly nodding, Keith moved closer to them.

"That's it!? We're just gonna leave!?"

Lotor helped Lance up and glared at Keith.

"If you want to stay, you can. We're leaving."

Lance immediately shook his head.

"No, we all need to leave! I just wanna go home!"

Lotor picked him up and started walking downstairs.

"We're going, just keep focusing on your breathing."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance curled up against Lotor in the backseat of the car.

Keith drove them down the quiet road, Pidge eventually turned around and broke the silence.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken you. This never would have happened if-!"

Lotor hugged Lance tighter and smiled at her.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just all relax, okay?"

Pidge nodded and wiped her tears before looking back at the road, Lance took in a shaky breath and sat up.

"He didn't hurt me, I don't need to go to the hospital or anything."

Lotor looked down at him and frowned.

"Are you sure?"

"Y-Yeah, I just wanna sleep. Can we stop at the gas station up ahead?"

Keith nodded and a few moments later they pulled into the parking lot, Lance climbed out of the car.

"I'll be right back..."

He walked inside and went straight to the bathroom, tears started falling down his face and his gasped.

"Shit..."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance sat down next to Lotor, the silence in the car was extremely unbearable. 

"Did something happen while I was gone..?"

Pidge ignored him and Keith's grip on the steering wheel tightened, they pulled out of the gas station and started driving down the road again.

Lotor smiled at him.

"Nothing happened, why are you asking?"

"You're all acting weird..."

Keith slammed on the breaks, the street light above them turned red.

"Almost ran the light..."

Lance looked down at the floor and started biting his nails, Keith started to drive again.

"It was the same guy from that night, right?"

Lance's eyes widened.

"No! I told you, he's out of the picture-!"

The car stopped again and Keith turned around, pulling out his phone. He clicked on something and threw it at Lance.

"It _really_ looks like he's out of the picture! Why didn't you say anything!? I swear to god, I'll fucking kill him-!"

Lotor tried to grab the phone but Lance pushed him away.

Lotor went to reach for it again.

"Lance, stop-!"

"I wanna see!"

Lance looked at the photo and froze, he swiped to see the other two and his heart stopped.

"He-! He _told_ me-!"

Lotor pulled the phone away from Lance.

"I told you to wait until we got back!"

Keith glared at him and grabbed his phone.

"He deserves to know!"

Lance started to shake.

"You _all_ got the photos?"

Keith and Lotor nodded.

"Pidge?"

Pidge nodded without looking at him, Lance pulled his phone out and turned it on.

**11 Missed Calls from: Elina**

**19 Missed Calls from: Ma**

**8 Missed Calls from: Marco**

**14 Missed Calls from: Ray of Sunshine**

**9 Missed Calls from: Princess**

**Voicemails: 7**

Lance clicked on the voicemail from his mother and held it up to his ear.

"Lance, you need to come home now. Your school said you skipped today and you were seen outside a club. I saw those photos of you, your father went back to work last night. Please, call me back, I love you honey."

Lotor tried to grab his phone.

"Stop, don't worry about what they're saying-!"

"I want to know! It's _disgusting!_ I _need_ to know what they're saying!"

He clicked on the voicemail from his sister.

"I saw those photos, Lance! They were sent from some-! I don't _know!_ Where are you!? You need to come home right now, even _Hunk_ doesn't know where you are! I've been so worried about you, I don't even care what you've been doing! I don't care if you're gay or anything!"

She lowered her voice and Lance could hear her quiet sobs.

"If you don't want to come home, I'll meet you _anywhere,_ anywhere you want. Just, _please_ talk to me, I love you  _so_ much Lance."

The voicemail ended with a click.

Lance sat his phone down, the car was silent until he eventually opened his mouth again. 

"I need to go home..."


	13. Home Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of Rape/Sexual Assault

Lance took a shaky breath as he stepped out of Lotor's car, Pidge looked up at him.

"Tell us what happens..."

"I will."

Lotor grabbed Lance's hand, he flinched slightly before squeezing it.

"If anything happens, you're _always_ welcome to stay with me."

"Thank you."

Lance looked over at Keith who was still gripping the steering wheel and staring straight ahead.

"You should go home too, Keith."

Keith continued staring ahead.

"I'll bring your things back tomorrow."

"Thanks..."

Lance slowly walked up to the front door, he turned around and waved to everyone.

They pulled away, leaving him all alone.

His heart thumped in his chest as he reached for the doorknob.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance stepped inside his house and looked around, it was oddly quiet. He walked though the house only to find it completely empty.

"Ma..?"

No response came to him.

He walked up the stairs and to his bedroom, the door was already slightly open. 

"Anyone..?"

The house stayed silent and an unsettling feeling washed over him.

He pushed his bedroom door open and looked around, everything was still the same as he had left it. Vibration suddenly came from his pocket, he let out a surprised shriek before pulling his phone out.

**Incoming Call: Marco**

Lance swallowed the lump in his throat as he answered the call and brought the phone to his ear.

"Hello..?"

"Lance!?"

"Marco?"

A sigh of relief came from the other line.

"Thank god, you're okay! Where are you!?"

"I'm at home..."

"Really, when did you get back!?"

"Just now..."

"We'll be back soon, don't leave!"

The call ended and panic immediately filled Lance.

He grabbed some clothes from his closet and rushed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

He turned the water in the shower on to the hottest temperature before removing his clothes and climbing inside, he flinched at the heat but quickly got used to it. He scrubbed his body with as much force as he could, leaving his skin slightly red and blotchy.

After repeatedly scrubbing his body and washing his hair he got out of the shower.

He cringed as he caught sight of himself in the mirror, he turned away and dried himself off before getting dressed. He looked down at the black sweatpants and large yellow sweater Hunk had given him, he sighed and walked back to his room. 

Lance collapsed on to his bed in exhaustion, he climbed under the blankets and shut his eyes.

He let out a sigh of relief and immediately fell asleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Lance, you need to wake up now."

Lance groggily opened his eyes, his mother was sitting on the edge of his bed.

His eyes widened and he forced a smile on to his face.

"Hey, what time is it..?"

"It's around five, I let you sleep for a few hours. You looked exhausted."

"Yeah, I didn't get enough sleep last night..."

Lance's mother shifted uncomfortably before looking into her sons eyes.

"Lance, no matter how you are or what you do, I'll still love you. I'll never stop loving you no matter what, I just want you to know that. There's nothing wrong with you, no matter what other people say."

Lance nodded as tears began to fill his eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't call you. Those photos..."

"I just want to know if you're okay, that's all I care about."

Lance looked down at his blanket.

"I'm not okay, Ma..."

Tears started to fall down Lance's face.

"So much happened and I've been acting like I'm fine but I'm _not._ I'm really not, I feel so _disgusting."_

Lance's mother put her arms out.

Lance wrapped his arms around her and started sobbing, she hugged him back and held him as he cried.

They stayed like that for a few minutes before a knock came from his bedroom door, it opened a few inches and Elina stuck her head in.

"Is it okay if I come in..?"

Lance wiped his tears away and nodded.

"Ma, can I talk with her alone?"

Lance's mother stood up and smiled at him.

"Sure, I'll be downstairs. Come down once you're done talking, I'll make dinner-"

Elina interrupted her.

"Wait, I'll help."

"No, no, no, I'll have Marco help. Don't worry about it."

She stood up and smiled at her children before walking out of the room and closing the door.

Elina sat down next to Lance and crossed her arms.

"So, where were you staying..?"

"Multiple places..."

Elina bit down on her lip and turned to face her brother.

"Where?"

"I stayed with Keith, Pidge and some other people. Mostly Keith though, his parents are very nice people."

"I'm _sorry,_ I'm really sorry. I should have started looking for you sooner-!"

Lance hugged his sister.

"It's okay, Elina. I was fine with my friends."

"But you _weren't!_ Those _photos!_ Was that consensual..?"

Lance immediately stiffened up.

"What if it wasn't..?"

Elina eye's widened.

"Lance, _was_ it consensual?"

"What if it  _wasn't? What would you do?"_

Elina stood up and stared at Lance in horror.

"You need to file a report!"

"I can't! Everyone will know about me, about how I  _am!"_

"Who cares!? That asshole should be in jail, how long has this been happening!?"

Lance looked down at the floor.

"Not that long..."

"When was the latest photo taken!?"

Lance felt tears start to fill his eyes again.

"Today..."

Elina stayed silent, Lance refused to look up at her.

"Did you tell anyone?"

"Pidge, Keith and my other friend know. Hunk kinda knows, I told him not to tell anyone."

"Could you get a rape kit done..?"

Lance stood up.

"I'm  _not_ exposing myself like that! I don't want people to know about my sexuality, I'm not ready to tell people. I wasn't ready to tell  _you!"_

"The police won't care if you're gay-!"

"First of all, I'm not gay. I'm bisexual. Second of all, the police are pretty nice but this _entire_ fucking town gossips about everything and I  _know_ people will find out!"

Elina crossed her arms and sighed.

"I won't tell, _you_ should though. At least talk to someone about it..."

Lance nodded.

"Okay, I will but right now, I just want to sleep."

"I'll wake you up once the food it ready, okay..?"

Lance nodded again, Elina reached up and hugged him.

She walked out of the room and shut the door.

Lance waited until he couldn't hear her footsteps anymore before he pulled out his phone and called Lotor.

"Lance? How did it go?"

Lance laid down on his bed.

"Pretty good, I only talked to my mom and sister though."

"It's great that they responded good, what about the photos?"

"I only told my sister. I'm just gonna tell everyone else he's a shitty ex or something."

"Wait, you're not gonna report him?"

"No, I'll just get over it..."

Lotor stayed silent before sighing.

"If he even tries talking to you, tell me."

"Are you still with Pidge..?"

"I'm at Zethrid's. Keith went home too, you should call him."

"Why? It'll be awkward..."

"He was really upset, anyways I gotta go. Call me if you need anything."

"Okay, thanks."

"Bye Lance."

"Bye..."

The call ended and Lance sat his phone down, he looked at the wall before sighing and closing his eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith unlocked his front door and walked inside.

He made his way over to the stairs, Aya stuck her head out of the kitchen.

"Hiro? You're back already? Keith!"

Keith froze and turned to face her.

"Uh, hey-?"

Aya ran towards him and wrapped him in a hug.

"I was so worried! They were gonna call Child Services and-! You were at a club! What happened to Lance!?"

Keith sighed.

"He went back home, I'm taking his stuff back tomorrow."

"That's great that he's back home. Bring him over sometime but you are in so much trouble! You need to come straight home after school and if you _do_ go anywhere else, I need to know where! Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I know."

Aya smiled at him.

"Great, your father went out to get something. I'm in the middle of making dinner, you should go talk to Takashi. It'll be done soon, we'll be talking about this later though!"

"Okay..." 

Keith started walking up the stairs, Aya grabbed his hand.

"We love you, honey. Just wanted to remind you."

Keith gulped and nodded.

"I love you guys too."

Aya grinned and walked back into the kitchen.

Keith continued walking upstairs, he made his way down the hallway and stopped once he reached Shiro's door.

He quickly knocked.

"Yeah? Come in."

Keith slowly opened the door and crept inside, Shiro's eyes widened in surprise.

"Keith. You're home."

"Yeah, I just got back. How are you feeling..?"

Shiro sat up.

"I'm pretty good. I got the  _extension..."_

Keith looked down and saw the 'arm' laying on the bed.

"How is it?"

"Honestly, pretty uncomfortable, I can't get used to it. How are  _you_ though? Where were you?"

"I was with Lance."

" _Where_ with Lance?"

Keith crossed his arms.

"Places. But um, I need to tell you something..."

"Yeah..?"

"So, you _don't_ know?"

"Obviously I don't..?"

Keith took a deep breath.

"Since you're  _with_ him, I guess I should-"

"Wait, okay. Let me say this first, I'm not with Lance. I never _slept_ with him either. After he confessed I told him I didn't feel the same, I like someone else actually."

"Oh.  _Oh..!"_

Keith turned red from embarrassment.

"Sorry, I assumed-!"

"It's fine, what were you gonna say?"

Keith sat down next to him.

"That person you like, if you found out something was happening to them, what would you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, if they were being hurt..?"

"If they were being bullied or something-?"

"No! Um..."

Keith swallowed the lump in his throat and looked at the floor.

"If they were being sexually assaulted..?"

"Wait, _what?_ What's going on!?"

"Nothing! I'm just asking what you would do!"

Shiro thought for a moment.

"I'd help them get out of the situation and call the police. Is that what's happening to Lance..?"

"No! I just saw some movie with a similar situation-!"

"If anything is happening to you, Lance or  _anyone_ you know you can tell me."

"Okay, I will."

"Good. So, you like him..?"

Keith blushed and crossed his arms.

"No! He's just my friend and-!"

"Keith, let me tell you something. I like- No, I  _love_  this guy. Just cause we're in this town, doesn't mean we need to hide it. Mom and Dad know and they still love us. That's all that matters, okay?"

"Okay, I guess... Who's the guy..?"

 Shiro looked down at the floor in frustration before speaking.

"Matt. I'm dating Matt."

"Matt Holt!? _Pidge's brother!?"_

"Yeah, I didn't want our relationship to be public..."

Shiro chuckled before sighing.

"It's all my fault we're in this situation..."

Keith stared at him astonishment.

"How is it your fault-?"

A knock came from Shiro's door, Aya stuck her head in and smiled.

"It's time for dinner, we'll talk at the table."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance opened his eyes to see Elina standing over him.

"Food's ready."

Lance sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"I'll be down in a minute..."

Elina stayed silent before nodding and leaving the room. 

Lance climbed out of bed and walked over to his full length mirror on the other side of the room.

He looked at himself and groaned, he ran his hand though his hair and made his way downstairs.


	14. It's So Hard To Stop The Rain

Lance stumbled into the kitchen, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Smells good..."

Lance's mother turned around and smiled at him.

"Don't flatter me, it's just left over soup and bread."

"If it's homemade it's good, no matter what."

Elina walked out of the laundry room holding a pile of wet clothes.

"The dryer's broken again, I'll hang everything up outside."

Lance sighed.

"Again? It just got fixed last month, maybe Hunk can fix it."

Their mother swatted her hand at him.

"No, don't trouble him. Go get Marco, he's supposed to be out here already."

Lance nodded before walking to the opposite side of the house and knocking on his brothers door.

"Marco? Dinner's ready."

Marco quickly opened the door and looked down at Lance.

"Oh-! You're awake, good. I'll be out in a minute."

Lance looked at the bags under his eyes and smiled.

"Sure, just hurry. Mom will get mad."

"Just say I'm finishing up my studying."

"Fine."

The door shut and Lance walked back to the kitchen.

"He'll be out in a minute, he's studying."

Lance's mother sighed.

"Set the table for me, please."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance poured soup into everyone's bowl and sat down next to his sister.

"Where's Diego?"

Elina handed him a slice of bread before answering.

"At a friends house, they're doing a project."

"Oh..."

Marco cleared his throat.

"I know this isn't something we should talk about at the table but since Diego isn't here..."

The house phone suddenly rang. Lance stood up and grabbed it, he answered it before putting it up to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Lance? It's great to hear from you, sweetie. Is your mother available?"

"Yeah, I'll give the phone to her."

"Thank you!"

Lance handed the phone to his mother and lowered his voice.

"It's Sefina."

She put the phone up to her ear and smiled.

"Sefina? Hey, it's Maria! How are you?"

Lance sat down again and continued his meal, Elina leaned over and whispered in his ear.

"Who is it..?"

"Sefina, Hunk's mom."

"Oh! The psychiatrist?"

"Yeah."

Maria sat the phone down on the table and sighed.

"She's coming over tomorrow."

Elina leaned forward.

"Why?"

"I just want all of you to talk to her. She's a very nice woman and since we're friends, she's doing it for free."

The front door opened and Diego walked in.

"Soup _again?_ I want meat-!"

He froze once his eyes landed on Lance.

"You're home..."

Lance smiled at him.

"Yeah, did you miss me?"

Diego took his seat next to Marco.

 _"No,_ you shouldn't have come back."

Maria glared at her youngest son.

"Do _not_ talk to your brother that way. You need to stay home tomorrow."

"What, why!?"

"I want you to talk to someone."

"What-!? There's nothing wrong with  _me!_ Lance is the one who needs to  _talk_ to someone!"

"You're  _all_ talking to her. I'm your mother and lately things haven't been that great, I just want to make sure everyone's okay!"

Diego stood up.

"I'm done eating. I'm going to my room."

"You didn't even touch your food!"

"I'll eat later!"

He took one last look at Lance before running upstairs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance scrubbed the large pot that sat in the sink.

"Ma, I'll finish the dishes. Go watch a show or something."

"No, I'm fine. You should be the one relaxing."

Lance frowned and stopped scrubbing.

"Can I talk to Sara..?"

Maria stayed silent for a few minutes before sighing.

"I can't let you do that."

"Why? She's my sister, she's your  _daughter!"  
_

"You know your father-!"

Lance turned around to face his mother.

"He's an asshole! I hate him, so should you! How could you let him kick your own _children_ out-!"

"Do not talk about your  _father_ in that way!"

Lance rolled his eyes.

"He shouldn't be considered a father! He slapped me, _twice!_ If he had gotten me to leave the hospital, it probably would have been a lot worse!"

Maria's eyes widened.

"He hit you _again?"_

"Yeah, if Keith hadn't been there I don't know what would've happened. He probably would've dragged me outside."

"Honey, I'm so sorry..."

"Whatever, I'm tired. Are you sure you don't need help...?"

"Y-Yeah, just go to sleep, if I need help I'll get Elina."

Lance nodded.

"Okay. Love you, Ma. Goodnight."

Lance kissed his mom on the cheek and made his way upstairs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith stared at his ceiling as his music echoed through his room.

_You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness, like resignation to the end always the end. So when we found that we could not make sense. Well you said that we would still be friends but I'll admit that I was glad that it was over._

He pulled a cigarette and a lighter out of his pocket. 

_But you didn't have to cut me off. Make it out like it never happened and that we were nothing and I don't even need your love but you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough._

Keith lit the cigarette, he sat the lighter down on his nightstand and grabbed an empty bowl.

_No, you didn't have to stoop so low, have your friends collect your records and then change your number. I guess that I don't need that though, now you're just somebody that I used to know._

A knock came from his door, Keith sat up and took a drag from his cigarette.

"Who is it?"

Shiro sighed.

"It's me, can I come in?"

"Yeah, wait a minute."

Keith stood up and paused his music, he walked over to his bedroom door and unlocked it. The door opened a crack and Keith stuck his head out.

"Yeah?"

"Can I come in..?"

Keith opened the door wider and motioned for Shiro to enter. 

Shiro sat down on Keith's bed and immediately noticed the smell of cigarettes.

Keith shut his door and leaned against it, taking another drag.

"You're smoking again!?"

Keith shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess..."

"Why!?"

"It's been a stressful week."

Shiro stayed silent, Keith sat down next to him.

"So, what were you gonna say..?"

"Just wanted to see what you were doing and... Make sure you're okay."

"Well, I'm fine."

Shiro stood up.

"I'm going to sleep, don't let mom know you're smoking."

"I won't."

He opened Keith's door.

"Goodnight."

The door shut, Keith sighed and stood up. He locked his door and turned his music back on.

 _I never felt it when I was young, I never knew where it came from. Now, I feel it like a hurricane and it's so hard to stop the rain. It's so hard to stop the rain, it's so hard to stop._  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first song is Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye and the second is Fear by Current Joys.


	15. Who Wouldn’t Be Nervous?

Rain softly pattered on the window.

Lance slowly opened his eyes and looked around his dimly lit room, he turned to his clock which read  **7:28 AM.**

He groaned before turning to face the wall, he shut his eyes and tried to drift back into sleep.

After a few minutes he sat up and grabbed his phone.

**No new notifications.**

He climbed out of bed and tossed his phone down, before pulling his curtains open. The sky was grey and cloudy, fog swirled around everywhere as rain continued to tap against the window.

Lance grabbed his phone again and went to his music, he hit shuffle on his favorite playlist and hopped back on to his bed.

 _Oh,_   _galaxy, galaxy won't you be my constellation? I need someone to kiss my hands and my feet and make me feel complete, oh yeah._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maria knocked on her sons door.

"Lance? Are you awake?"

The door opened and Lance smiled at her.

"Yeah, I already ate breakfast so..."

"You need to get dressed, Hunk's mother will be here soon."

"Okay, I'll be out in a minute."

Maria smiled at him.

"Come down stairs when your finished."

Lance nodded and shut his door, Maria walked down the hall to her youngest sons room.

"Diego! Are you dressed!?"

She waited for an answer, it stayed silent, she opened the door to find her youngest asleep.

"Diego!"

He sat up in surprise.

"What-?"

"Get dressed now! I told you-!"

He glared at her.

"I told  _you_ I'm not talking to her! There's nothing wrong with  _me-!"_

Lance walked in behind his mother with blue jeans and a green t-shirt on.

"The way you're acting makes it _seem_ like something's wrong with you, you've been acting like a brat lately."

Diego rolled his eyes.

"At least I don't like getting fucked by other-!"

Maria grabbed a sandal from the floor and smacked his head.

"Ow-!"

"You're grounded, give me your phone!"

Diego's eyes widened.

"What!? It's not like I'm lying!"

"You don't talk about things like that, especially about your own _brother!_ You need to apologize right now!"

Diego reluctantly handed his mother his phone and groaned.

"Lance, I'm sorry for being honest."

Lance rolled his eyes and quickly walked out of the room.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone sat around the living room as Maria led Sefina inside.

Lance watching as the tall, plump woman made her way to the living room and smiled at everyone.

He stood up and made his way over to her.

"Can we speak outside..?" 

She gave him another warm smile.

"Of course, Lance."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance sat down on the porch next to the woman in the chair, she looked down at him before speaking.

"How are you?"

"Honestly, not so great..."

"Why's that?"

Lance turned his attention away from the light drizzle falling from the sky and looked at her.

"You probably already know about my dad."

"Tell me about him."

Lance sighed and returned to looking at the sky.

"How did your family and friends react when you told them about Talia..?"

Sefina stayed quiet before placing a hand on Lance's shoulder.

"My parents are extremely different from yours, I _know_ that your mother will _always_ love you..."

Lance stood up and glared at the woman.

"What about my _dad!?_ And Diego-!? I didn't ask to be like this! To-! I didn't ask to  _like_ men! This whole town is _so_ against it and-!"

Sefina stood up.

"You don't get to choose who you love, sweetie."

"Just, talk to Diego... I'm sorry for being rude, tell Hunk I'm fine."

Lance pulled his front door open, leaving the older woman outside.

He started to make his way upstairs before his mother stopped him.

"What happened-?"

"We're finished. I'm going to take a nap, please leave me alone until I'm ready to talk."

Maria opened her mouth to speak but Lance was already up the stairs and locked away in his room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance woke up to vibrating coming from next to him.

He slowly opened his eyes as they adjusted to the darkness and grabbed his phone.

Rain still softly pattered on the window.

**Incoming Call: Lotor**

Lance answered the call and put the phone up to his ear, he spoke in a groggy voice.

"Hello..?" 

"You answered! I texted you earlier and you never responded."

"Oh, sorry I've been sleeping all day."

"Sounds exciting."

Lance noticed Lotor's speech slurring and the sound of wind blowing around him.

"Where are you..?"

"Outside, I'm close to your house."

"It's raining! Why are you outside!?"

"I don't have anywhere else to go..."

Lance got off his bed and walked to his window.

"Come over. My window's the one on the far left of the second floor, just try not to make a lot of noise."

"You're letting me come over..?"

"Yeah, if you have no where else to go, I'm not gonna leave you outside in the rain.”

Lotor chuckled.

“Well, thanks a lot.” 

“Just hurry up and get over here.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few minutes later a loud bang came from outside, Lance rushed over to his window to find Lotor pulling himself on to the roof.

Lance pulled the window open and stuck his head out. 

“I told you to be _quiet!”_  

“Sorry...“

”Shh!”

Lance pulled him inside his room and quickly shut the window, he looked up at Lotor and gasped. 

“What happened to your face!?” 

Lotor put his hand to his cheek to feel it. 

“Daddy issues...”

”He _hit_ you!? It’s swollen! You’re probably gonna have a black eye!” 

“He was pissed about the car and some other stuff...” 

Lance brought Lotor to his bed and they sat down.

Lance moved closer to Lotor to examine his face. 

“What an asshole..!” 

He rubbed his thumb along his cheek and Lotor flinched.

They made eye contact and an awkward silence filled the room, Lance was the first to look away and break the silence. 

“Have you been drinking..?” 

“Oh, uh yeah...  Just a little, since I was stressed.” 

“Mmm. I can smell it on your breath, it doesn’t seem like it was just a little.” 

Lotor grabbed Lance’s hand and squeezed it. 

“I’m not really sure how much I drank...” 

Lance looked down at their hands before looking at Lotor. 

“Why couldn’t you go to Zethrids..?”

”I don’t wanna worry any of them.” 

He moved closer to Lance but Lance moved away. 

“You’re drunk, let’s just go to sleep.” 

Lotor moved closer to him again. 

“I know what I’m doing...” 

Lance looked at him. 

“No...“ 

Lotor gently grabbed Lance’s chin and moved his face close to his. 

“Can I..?” 

Lance’s eyes widened and he looked down.

“You’re drunk and I'm-!”

“You’re what?”

Lance looked into his eyes and sighed.

“I don’t know, I’m gross...”

“What? You’re _beautiful!_ And sweet and funny and a great listener-!“

“Okay, okay, you can stop...” 

Lotor chuckled before smiling. 

“It’s true though.”

”You’re way better than me.” 

“No way, I’m extremly flawed.” 

Lance leaned against Lotor. 

“Everyone is flawed.” 

“Not you.” 

Lance slowly pressed his lips against Lotors.

Lotor wrapped an arm around the other boys waist and deepened the kiss. 

Lance pulled back and panted against Lotor. 

“Wait...”

He sighed as his breathing steadied. 

Lotor pushed Lance’s hair back. 

“I’ll wait as long as you need.” 

Lance pressed his lips against Lotor's again, surprising him.

He slid his hand up Lance’s shirt, Lance whimpered in surprise and started to shake. 

“Hey, I’m not him. I won’t hurt you, I’m gonna make you feel  _good,_ ~~~~can you hear my heartbeat?”

Lance nodded. 

“Good, just focus on that and breathe.”

Lance leaned against his chest and took deep breaths, after a few minutes he let out a small laugh. 

“It’s beating so fast, are you _nervous..?”_

”Well _yeah,_ I have a gorgeous guy in my arms. Who wouldn’t be nervous?” 

Lance blushed and pressed his face against Lotor's chest.

Lotor tightened his hold on him. 

“You okay?” 

Lance nodded and sat up, he bit on his lip before looking into Lotor's eyes. 

“Can you touch me..?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first song is Faded Heart by BØRNS. But anyways wow sorry it took so long to post this I was busy with school/work. I’ll try to keep the updates regular!


	16. Allura’s Visit

Allura walked up the driveway to the small blue house in her long yellow overalls and pink crop top. Her hair sat in a messy bun on her head and she wore blue converse along with her regular tote bag she had painted herself hanging on her shoulder. 

She knocked on the front door a few times and waited.

The door opened a moment later and a familiar man looked at her. 

“Allura..?” 

She smiled at him before speaking. 

“Hey Marco, it’s been a while. Is Lance home? I brought him something and I wanted to surprise him.”

Marco stepped back and motioned for her to come inside. 

“He’s in his room, you can just go up there. You dyed your hair, it looks great!” 

“Thanks, Coran helped me with it.” 

“How is he?” 

“Great, he just got back from a trip actually.” 

Marco closed the door behind her and put his hands in his pockets. 

“That’s good. How’s school?” 

“Class is fine, there's just a lot of drama with everything going on.” 

“Yeah, well everything will get better.” 

“I hope so, I’m gonna head up to Lance’s room. See you around.” 

Marco watched as Allura made her way upstairs. 

“See you around...”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allura knocked on Lance’s door, no response came so she knocked again. 

“Lance? Marco let me in.” 

The silence continued, Allura sighed and tried to open the door only to find that it was locked. 

She walked to the next door and knocked, Elina opened it in surprise. 

“Oh, hey! I didn’t know you were here!”

”I just got here...“ 

“Is Lance still asleep?”

”Yes, I think so.” 

Elina walked back into her room and came back with a key. 

“Here, just bring it back later. Tell him he needs to eat too, I’m glad you came over he needs the company.” 

“Thank you. It’s no problem, I’ve been wanting to talk to him.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The key slid into the lock and Allura heard it click.

She opened the door and stepped inside, she shut it and sat the key down on Lance’s desk before turning the light on. 

“Lance, it’s already past eleven-!“ 

She gasped and dropped her bag on the floor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance’s eyes shot open and he groaned. 

“Listen to me! Just be quiet for a second! Someone’s gonna come in if you don’t stop yelling-!”

Lance sat up and looked at the half naked Lotor sitting next to him and the steaming Allura glaring at them.

Allura turned her attention to Lance.

”You’re sleeping with _him!? Really!?_ You know I hate him and his family! I came over because I was worried about one of my best friends and I find you in bed naked with the guy I absolutely despise!” 

Lotor groaned. 

“I have a really bad headache right now and you’re not helping-!“ 

“Do you honestly think I care!? God, I can’t believe you would do this!” 

Lance rubbed the sleep from his eyes. 

“Allura, please stop yelling. Someone’s gonna come in to see what’s going on and he’s not supposed to be here, so I’ll probably be grounded forever.” 

Allura glared at him before crossing her arms and sighing. 

“I’m sorry. I need to talk to you though, so can he leave..?” 

“Uh yeah, can you..?“ 

Allura sighed again and grabbed her bag. 

“I’ll be in the hall.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as the door shut, Lance got out of his bed and went to his closet. 

Lotor watched as he pulled on baggy red shorts and a tighter grey T-shirt.

He shut his closet and walked over to his desk, grabbing his hairbrush and starting to brush through his hair. 

Lotor leaned on his left arm and smirked at Lance. 

Lance turned around and smirked back at him before continuing to fix his hair. 

“What are you smirking at?” 

Lotor got out of the bed and pulled his clothes from the night before back on. 

“I wasn’t smirking at anything.” 

“Mhm.” 

Lance handed him the hairbrush. 

“Fix your hair, it’s a disaster in the morning.” 

Lotor took the hairbrush. 

“Thanks for the compliment.” 

“Anytime.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allura watched as Lotor put his hair up into a ponytail and pulled his black leather boots on. 

Lance opened his window and Lotor climbed out on to the roof, Zethrid's truck sat running in the road. 

“Tell Zethrid I said hey...” 

“Call me later, okay?” 

“Sure.” 

Lotor quickly kissed him on the forehead and hopped off the roof, he ran to the truck and waved before climbing in. 

Lance watched the truck drive away before closing his window and turning to face Allura. 

“So, what did you want to talk about..?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated!


	17. Stay Out Of Trouble

Allura sipped her lavender milkshake while she watched Lance pull at the straw in his cucumber lemonade and look around the bright colored cafe. 

“I would’ve asked how you’re feeling but obviously you’re well if you can sleep with Lotor.” 

Lance sighed and looked at her. 

“I already told you, we’re just friends and that was a one time thing.” 

Allura glared at him and lowered her voice to where she was almost hissing. 

“You gave your _first time_ to _him!”_  

“You gave _your_ first time to _Pidge!”_  

Allura’s cheeks turned bright red and she looked down at her drink. 

“That-! I told you not the mention that...” 

Lance leaned on the table. 

“How is she anyways..?” 

“She’s good, I went over to see her yesterday.” 

“Wow, that’s really interesting! Just the two of you there, all alone...” 

Lance wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive way, Allura lightly shoved him causing him to giggle. 

“She’s trying to find Matt. I only went over to bring her food since I’m worried, I don’t think she’s slept for a few days.” 

“Does she have any idea where he could be..?” 

Allura sighed. 

“She wouldn’t talk about it with me. I told her she could come stay at my house for some company but she just insisted she wanted to be alone.” 

“She works better by herself, if she needs help we’re here for her.” 

“I know that...” 

Lance quickly chugged the rest of his drink. 

“Let’s get out of here.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allura parked her car and turned to face Lance. 

“I don’t wanna make things awkward but I need to know...“ 

“You got those photos right? Is that what this is about?”

Allura lightly bit down on her lower lip and nodded. 

“Pidge already told me the basics...” 

“Well, I guess you have an explanation then.” 

Lance reached for the door handle but Allura quickly grabbed his hand. 

“You’re not going to report it?” 

“No, it’s not a big deal. I’m already over it...“ 

“It _is_ a big deal! Lance, you know we’ll all fight through this with you.” 

Lance opened the car door and stepped outside.

”I’ve made up my mind already, I never wanted anyone to know in the first place. Thanks for taking me out, tell Coran I said hello.” 

Allura watched Lance go to his door before opening it and waving goodbye to her, she waved back as he went inside and closed the door. 

She sighed and pulled away from the house while chewing nervously on her lip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance jumped on to his bed and pulled out his phone. 

He looked through his notifications and his eyes landed on the missed calls from the night before. 

His finger hovered above the call back button before he sighed and hit it. 

“You _finally_ called, I was beginning to think she had locked you up or something.” 

Lance rolled over on to his stomach and smiled.

”She just wanted to check on me. We went to this cafe she likes and then she took me home.” 

“Mmm, so are you gonna go to school tomorrow?” 

“My mom said I could have the week off.” 

Lotor cleared his throat and smiled.

”Maybe you could come over here then.” 

“There’s _no way_ I’d be allowed to.” 

“Just sneak out, I can pick you up.” 

“I don’t think that’s a very good idea...”

Lotor stayed quiet for a moment before sighing.

”If you don’t wanna see me you don’t have to make excuses...” 

“No, I wanna see you, I just-!"

“Really, you don’t have to if you’re uncomfortable.” 

Lance sat up and leaned against the wall. 

“Come get me in an hour, okay?” 

“Are you sure..?”

”Yeah, I’ll get some stuff together. Text me when you get here.” 

“Sure...” 

“Okay, see you later then Daibazaal.”

Lotor chuckled. 

“Sure thing, McClain.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance knocked on his sister's door. 

“Elina?”

It opened and she leaned out.

”Yes?” 

“I’m going to a friends house, okay?” 

Elina frowned and pulled her brother into her room, closing the door behind him.

“No, who’s this friend anyways?”

”Does it really matter? I’m still gonna go, I just wanted you to cover for me.” 

Elina grabbed Lance’s hands and squeezed. 

“I don’t want anymore secrets between us, okay? I’ll cover for you if you tell me who.” 

“It’s my friend Lotor. You know, his dad is the really wealthy guy.” 

Elina slowly nodded. 

“You’re friend's with him..? He’s not the one who did-?“

”No! He’s a really great guy. I’ll probably stay the night...” 

Elina look at her brother in suspicion. 

“I guess it’s fine, you better respond when I text you though. And come home tomorrow!” 

“I will, thanks.” 

“No problem, just stay out of trouble.”

Lance playfully smiled at his sister before walking out of the room.

“I’ll try..!” 


	18. You’re Too Much

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Consensual Underage Sex and Smut!

Lance sat his bag down on Lotor’s bed, he stretched before laying down and putting his hands behind his head. 

Lotor sat his keys on his dresser and turned to Lance. 

“You’re making yourself right at home, hm?”

”Yep!” 

Lotor grabbed a hair tie and started putting his hair into a bun.  

Lance turned on to his side to face him. 

 _“So,_ what are we gonna do..?” 

Lotor glanced at him before returning to his hair. 

“What do _you_ want to do?” 

“Whatever you wanna do is fine...” 

Lotor finished with his hair and climbed on to the bed and on top of Lance. 

“Don’t tempt me, McClain.” 

Lance’s eyes widened and his cheeks turned bright pink. 

Lotor smirked and started to get up, Lance grabbed his arm before he could get off the bed. 

“What if I _do_ tempt you..?” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lotor pushed Lance’s shirt up as he left kiss marks all along his chest. 

Lance covered his face in embarrassment as Lotor made his way up. 

“Don’t hide your face, I wanna see you.” 

Lance slowly removed his hands from his face and looked at Lotor. 

“We _just_ did this last night, there’s no need to be embarrassed.” 

“It’s gonna be embarrassing no matter what!” 

Lance squeaked as Lotor slid his shorts down and placed a hand on his member. 

“Don’t think about it, just think of how you _feel.”_  

“It’s hard when you’re just staring at me and-! _Oh!”_  

Lance clung on to Lotor’s back as he let out a small moan. 

“What was that? I think you should repeat yourself.” 

Lance let out a whimper before moaning again. 

 _“Don_ _’t stop-!”_  

“I’m not. Try to quiet down, we don’t want the others to hear.” 

Lance nodded and leaned against Lotor as he reached into the drawer in his night stand and pulled out a bottle of lube. 

“Have you ever-?”

Lance shook his head. 

“I’ve never been with anyone else...” 

Lotor froze in surprise for a second before speaking again. 

 _“Really?_ Guess I’ll have to make your first time a good one then.” 

The lube splattered on to his fingers and he slowly pressed them against Lance’s hole. 

“Are you ready? Tell me if it hurts.”

Lance nodded and took a deep breath as Lotor slid in his first finger. 

“Okay?” 

Lance nodded again and bit down on his lip. 

“I’m gonna start moving now.” 

Lotor started slowly working his finger in and out. 

Lance groaned and pressed his face against Lotor's neck. 

“Does it hurt?” 

“Just feels weird, keep going...” 

Lotor continued working his finger before sliding in another one. 

Lance let out a sudden gasp and bit down on his lip. 

Lotor started moving his two fingers in and out. 

“Wait-! Oh,  _fuck-!“_

Lance let out a loud moan and a few tears fell down his face, Lotor tried to kiss the tears away as he continued to move his fingers but they kept falling. 

Lance grinded against Lotor and let out another loud moan. 

“That was a nice sound you made, guess I’ll have to make you do it again.” 

 _“Go faster-!”_  

Lotor placed a kiss on his lips. 

“You’re being too loud, McClain.” 

Lance panted and pressed down on Lotor's fingers. 

“Oh _yes-! Lotor, please!”_  

Lotor gulped and pushed his fingers in deeper. 

“You have _no_ idea how hot you look right now...“ 

Lance kissed him roughly and started unbuckling his jeans. 

“I’ll touch you too, so we’re even.”

 _”Just_ so we’re even?”

Lance nodded with a smirk on his face as he pulled the other boys pants down.

He slowly removed himself from Lotor’s fingers with a whimper and moved further down the bed so his face was in front of Lotor's member, he carefully grabbed it and started working his hand up and down. 

Lotor let out a low groan. 

“Yeah, just like that...” 

Lance swallowed the lump in his throat and ran his tongue along the underside of his member, Lotor looked at him in surprise.

”Hey-!“ 

“I can do it.” 

He pressed his lips against his member and slowly started bobbing his head. 

 _“Lance-!“_  

Lance looked up at him in determination before pushing his head down further, tears started to form in his eyes again and a few fell as he blinked them away. 

 _“God,_ Lance you can _stop-!“_  

Lotor interrupted himself with a groan. 

 _“Okay, stop!_ I’m gonna-!“ 

Lance sat up and returned his hand to Lotor’s member. 

 _“Fuck,_ how are you so _good_ at this..?” 

Lotor thrusted his hips up with a loud grunt as he came into Lance’s hand, he breathed heavily as he watched Lance take his own hand and thrust two fingers into himself. 

“You are _too_ much, McClain...” 

Lance smirked at him as he moved his fingers. 

“I know, now hurry up and get over here...” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lotor walked into the kitchen and looked at the four girls sitting around the table. 

“What are you all doing in here?” 

Ezor leaned on the table and gazed up at him. 

“We couldn’t stand all the moaning coming from your room, so we came down here.” 

Lotor pulled two water bottles out of the fridge and frowned. 

“I have _no_ idea what you’re talking about.” 

Zethrid crossed her arms and smirked at him. 

“Don’t stop! Wait! Go faster! Oh yes! Lotor, please!” 

Ezor leaned against her and raised her hand to her face in a dramatic gesture. 

 _“Yeah,_ just like that!” 

She starting moaning loudly as Zethrid laughed.

Lotor rolled his eyes and walked out of the kitchen. 

“You’re all _very_ mature.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ezor leaned forward and looked around at the others. 

“So, what are we thinking..?” 

Acxa huffed and crossed her arms. 

“I don’t like him.” 

Ezor rolled her eyes.

”You don’t like _anyone,_ how about you Zethrid?” 

“I think he’s okay.”

“Well personally, I _love_ him and think he’s _great_ for Lotor.”  

Acxa stood up and leaned against the wall. 

“What about the girl..?”

”What girl?”

Zethrid sighed.

”We all know that’s not happening.” 

Ezor looked around the table in confusion.

”Wait a minute, she’s _still_ in the picture!? I thought he told Zarkon-!“ 

Acxa looked at her and retorted. 

“You actually think Zarkon would listen to him?” 

“He _is_ his son-!“ 

“Lotor doesn’t see that man as his father.” 

Narti stood up and started reaching around for her cane, Zethrid looked at her in surprise. 

“Narti?” 

“You should all mind your business. It’s not up to us who Lotor decides to be with, now if you don’t mind, I’m going to my room. Kova, come.” 

Narti quickly walked out of the room with Kova following close behind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lotor laid sprawled out on his bed and listened to the sound of the bath running from his bathroom. 

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, starting to drift into sleep. 

A sudden vibration from next to him jolted him awake, he turned to see Lance’s phone lit up and he quickly grabbed it. 

 **Incoming Call: Kashi**  

He smirked and answered the call holding it up to his ear. 

“Yes?” 

“Uh, who is this..?”

”What’s it matter to _you?_ Why are you calling?”

“To check on Lance, is he okay..?”

Lotor groaned in frustration.

”Listen, Lance is getting over you and other major things right now, so you should leave him alone to make sure he doesn’t catch feelings again.” 

Shiro stammered.

”There’s... There’s nothing between us! Why do you have his phone!?”

”He’s currently in the bath cleaning up after I _assisted_ him, if you get what I’m saying... So, he’s quite busy.” 

Shiro opened his mouth to speak but Lotor interrupted. 

“Now, he’s finishing up, so I’m gonna have to let you go.” 

“Wait-!” 

Lotor ending the call and deleted it from the call history before sitting the phone back where it had been.


	19. Stop Touching Him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Consensual Underage Sex and Smut!

Shiro sat on his bed, he glared at his wall as he sat deep in thought. 

Aya knocked on the door.

”Takashi! Dinner’s ready!” 

“I’ll be down in a minute.” 

A few minutes later, his door opened a few inches and Keith stuck his head in. 

“Yes?”

”Are you gonna come eat..?” 

“When was the last time you talked to Lance?” 

Keith looked at him in confusion. 

“We don't talk...” 

“Where do you think he’d be, if he wasn’t at home?”

”What happened?” 

Shiro looked up at Keith.

 _”Where_ do you think he’d be?” 

“Probably at that _club...”_  

Shiro stood up and walked out of his room. 

“We’re going there after we eat.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance watched the waves roll up on to the beach, the sunset glistened on the water and he sighed. 

“You’re so lucky you get to wake up to this, I have to wake up to a view of the road and other houses.” 

Lotor glanced at him before returning to his book. 

“It’s okay, after a while it loses it’s charm. If you like it so much you can just stay here.” 

Lance looked back at him and scoffed before sitting on the bed. 

“What’re you reading..?” 

“The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway.”

”Is it any good?” 

“So far, yes.” 

Lance stood up and made his way over to the door. 

“Maybe I’ll read it sometime, I’m going downstairs. Wanna come?”

”I don’t go down after the club opens.” 

“Whatever, do you want anything?” 

“I’m fine.” 

Lance walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. 

“Suit yourself then...” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith followed Shiro to the door of the club. 

“I don’t think you should've left the house! What if he’s not even here!?” 

“Then he’s not here.”

Shiro opened the door and stepped inside, Keith followed close behind. 

The music filled the club along with the sound of it’s patrons chatting. 

Shiro looked around in determination, he spotted who he was looking for seated at the bar. Lance laughed along with the bartender while he ate fries and sipped from a drink.

Shiro made his way through the crowd until he reached him, he placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“Lance, what are you doing here? You need to come with us.” 

Lance looked at him in surprise before laughing. 

“What? Come sit down! Have something to eat, Zethrid will make you something!” 

Shiro looked up at the tall, dark skinned woman with two large buns on her head standing behind the bar. 

“Don’t you ID here?”

”He’s a friend of a friend, so he’s allowed in. I’m only allowed to give him a few drinks, he’s just a light weight.” 

Lance glared at her. 

“I am _not!”_  

Zethrid laughed. 

“Yes, you _are._ Why don’t you talk to your buddies?” 

Lance sighed and turned to face Shiro again. 

“Yes?”

”You’re too young to be here, it’s a school night and you should be at home.” 

“I’m not going to school, I get a week off!” 

“For what?”

Lance frowned before leaning over to his ear and whispering. 

“I can’t tell you, Kashi. You'd think I'm gross, I don't want that.” 

Keith groaned and grabbed Lance’s arm. 

“Enough, come on we’re leaving! Don’t make this difficult!” 

“I’m _not_ leaving!” 

People around the bar suddenly started whispering to each other, Lance turned his attention to the girl next to him talking to her friend. 

“Why do you think he came down!? If he’s looking for a partner, I call him-!”

The girl looked in Lance's direction and gasped, Lance felt a hand grip his shoulder. 

He turned around to see Lotor glaring at Shiro. 

“What brings you two here?” 

Shiro glared back and spoke up. 

“We’re here to take Lance home. If you couldn’t tell, he’s underage.” 

“He's the same age as me and he’s _staying_ here, in _my_ room. He has permission to be here.” 

“From his _parents?”_  

Lance stood up.

”Stop, let’s all just have a good time...” 

“Do you not understand the seriousness of this situation, Lance!? You’re sixteen and you’re at a club by yourself, completely wasted!” 

Lotor wrapped his arm around Lance’s waist. 

“He’s under  _great_ supervision.”

Lance leaned against Lotor and sighed.

“Hey, stand up straight.” 

“I’m _tired,_ you barely let me sleep-!“ 

Lotor hushed him and grabbed his drink from off the bar, he held it out to Shiro. 

“Here, let me take him upstairs and we can talk about this after.” 

Shiro looked at the drink in suspicion before taking it. 

“Fine, just hurry up.” 

Lotor smiled at him. 

“Great, just sit here and have a couple drinks, completely on the house.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith watched as Shiro gulped a drink down and talked to Zethrid. He sighed and made his way through the crowd, to the stairs.

He pulled his phone out, turning it on.

**8:45 P** **M**

It had already been around fifteen minutes.

Keith slowly made his way upstairs, it was quiet besides the sound of muffled music coming from downstairs. He made his way over to the room he remembered to be Lotor's.  

The door was cracked open, Keith hesitantly leaned forward so he could peer in. 

Lance sat on Lotor’s lap, facing the wall with his legs wrapped around him. Lotor sucked at his neck, causing him to moan. 

Keith quickly pulled away from the door and leaned against the wall in shock. 

Lotor smirked as he spoke. 

“I should _really_ be getting back, they’re gonna be wondering what we’re doing.” 

“Then let them wonder, just keep touching _me-!“_  

Lance gasped before groaning in approval. 

Keith gulped and pressed his face back up against the crack. 

Lance was on his back panting while Lotor leaned over him, a blanket had been thrown over his body but Keith could still tell what was happening. 

“I’m _so close-!“_  

Lotor suddenly made eye contact with Keith, causing him to gasp and cover his mouth with his hands. 

Lance whimpered as Lotor sat up and turned to face the door. 

“Why don’t you come in, Kogane?” 

Keith gulped and Lance looked up at Lotor in confusion. 

“What-?” 

“Hurry up, Kogane. Don’t make me get up.” 

Keith slowly pushed the door open and walked inside with slumped shoulders. 

“Close the door.”

He closed the door and looked down at the floor in embarrassment. 

“Were you enjoying the show?” 

Keith felt his face heat up as he continued to stare at the floor. 

Lance stared at Lotor with wide eyes and a look of confusion. 

 _“Lotor-?“_  

Lance felt his fingers enter him again and he yelped in surprise, Lotor pressed kisses on to his face and neck. 

“Shh, you’re okay, just relax.” 

Keith felt jealously wash over him, his eyes burned with anger as he glared at Lotor. 

“Stop touching him...” 

Lotor smirked at him. 

“Don’t you wanna see? You like him, right? You probably think about this _all_ the time.” 

Lance pulled at the sheets and bit down on his lip.

 _”Lotor...”_  

Keith looked at Lance spread out on the bed, under the blanket, panting with tears threatening to fall down his face. 

Lotor pushed his fingers deeper. 

“Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about you. Just talking to Kogane about something.” 

Lance looked over at Keith, still panting. He let out a small moan as Lotor continued working his fingers in and out. 

Keith’s eyes instantly widened and he looked away. 

The door suddenly slammed open and Shiro stormed in. 

“What the _fuck_ is going on in here!?” 

He looked around at everyone before glaring at Lotor. 

“We’re leaving. Thanks for the _talk.”_  

Lance whimpered as Shiro picked him up and grabbed his pants. 

“We’ll return the blanket some other time.” 

Lotor pushed his hair back and sighed. 

“His bag is on the floor.” 

Shiro quickly grabbed the bag and walked to the door. 

“Keith, let’s _go.”_  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance sat in the backseat curled up in his blanket, Keith turned around to glance at him before looking back out the window. 

“Will you _stop?”_

”What?” 

“Stop looking at me! Why are you doing that!?”

”Maybe because you’re _naked_ and fucking a _murderer-!“_  

Shiro groaned and stopped the car. 

“I just need a minute, I’ll be outside.” 

They watched as Shiro got out of his truck and walked off into a field. 

“Look what you did.” 

Keith scoffed and rolled his eyes. 

 _“Me?_ You’re the one who made us drive out here!” 

“I didn’t make you do anything! I can handle myself!” 

“Obviously, you can’t-!“ 

Lance threw his hands up in the air and groaned. 

“Whatever! You’re the one who sat there _spying_ on me!”

”I wasn’t spying on you-!” 

“Then what were you doing!? Standing there with no one's knowledge!? That’s calling _spying!”_  

“No, I just walked over at the wrong time-!“

”Obviously! Just, _ugh!_ I get it! You’re jealous!” 

“Jea-? No, why would I be _jealous!?”_  

“Because I actually know how to have _fun-!“_

Keith glared at him.

”You’re unbelievable. I had to sit there and watch that!” 

 _“No,_ you _didn’t!”_  

“Just imagine if you had walked in on Shiro and-! Uh, the person _he_ likes!? How would _you feel!?”_  

“That’s completly different! It’s not like you’ve ever liked me! Now just fuck off, okay!?” 

Keith watched Lance turn away from him to look out the window. 

“I’m sorry...” 

“Don’t talk to me.” 

Keith sighed and turned away from him. 

Lance crossed his arms and his lip started to quiver, tears began to fall down his face and he let out a whimper. 

Keith turned around again. 

“Lance..?” 

“Shut up.”

Keith climbed over the seat and sat down next to him. 

“Go away, I don’t wanna be by you.” 

“I’m not gonna sit up there while you’re crying...” 

Lance wiped his eyes and looked at Keith. 

“You’re an asshole.” 

“Thanks.” 

He leaned against Keith and closed his eyes. 

“You’re not an asshole...” 

“That’s not what you said three seconds ago.” 

“I know, sorry...” 

“I’m sorry too. You can do what you want, it has nothing to do with me...“ 

Shiro suddenly jumped into the car and started it, startling the two boys.

”I’m taking you two back to the house.” 

“What about you?” 

“I need to do something.” 

Shiro slammed down on the gas, Lance and Keith launched forward before Keith grabbed the seat and held them back. 

“Slow down! What’s your problem!?” 

“I have to go! When we get to the house, you need to get out right away and go inside.” 

“You need to tell me what’s going on!” 

Shiro sighed and continued speeding down the road. 

“Pidge needs help.” 

Lance’s eyes widened. 

“Is she okay!?”

”It’s Matt. She needs my help getting Matt.” 


	20. You’re a Liar

Lance sat on Keith’s bathroom floor. 

“Are you done..?” 

Lance groaned.

”Can you leave the room!? Go play with your dog or _something!”_  

Lance listened as Keith walked away grumbling. 

Multiple loud knocks suddenly came from the door the bedroom door. 

 _“Keith Akira Kogane!_ You better open this door _right now_ and tell me where your brother is!” 

Keith cracked the door open.

”Yes..?”

Aya crossed her arms and glared at him.

”Where is Takashi!?”

”He’s not in his room..?”

”Don't you _dare_ play dumb with me!” 

“I’m not-!”

Aya forced her way into his room. 

“What are you doing in here, huh!?”

Keith walked away from the door.

”I’ve just been laying in bed on my phone!”

Aya picked up an old cigarette butt and threw it at Keith. 

“What is _this!?_ You’re smoking again!?”

”No-!“

”Then why is it here!?”

”I don’t know-!“

”You’re lying to me, Keith! I am your _mother!_ I’m here to help you and I want to find your brother! Just tell me where he is!” 

Keith groaned.

”I don’t know!” 

Aya walked back over to his door.

”You’re grounded! For even longer now!” 

She slammed the door shut and Keith quickly locked it, Lance slowly opened the bathroom door and walked out.

”Uh... Thanks for the clothes.” 

“Yeah, no problem...” 

They stood in silence before Lance’s phone started to vibrate, Lance dug through his bag but by the time he had found it the buzzing had stopped. 

 **7** **Missed Calls From: Elina**

“Oh no, shit, okay. Be quiet.” 

Lance quickly called her back, she answered after only two rings.

”What did I tell you!?” 

“I know-!”

”No! You need to come home _right_ now! I can’t trust you, you keep breaking our promises!” 

“Elina, just let me explain this-!”

Lance flinched as his sister started yelling.

”Te dejo salir de esta casa y tu haces esto!? _En serio!?_ Eres _increíble!”_  

“Elina, solo déjame explicarte! Lo siento! Volveré a casa por la mañana!” 

Elina groaned.

”Estar aquí a las nueve!” 

“Si, okay!”

“Ve a dormir!” 

“Okay Elina, buenas noches!” 

Lance hung up and sighed before turning to Keith. 

“Do you think you could give me a ride home tomorrow before nine..?” 

“Yeah, uh sure...”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shiro sat in his truck with Pidge in the passenger seat and Allura in the back. 

They all sat silently in thought before Allura leaned forward and broke the silence. 

“So, he escaped...” 

Pidge turned to her.

”We _don’t_ know that! Something else could’ve happened!”

”The door was unlocked and the chain was broken what else could that mean-?”

Pidge opened her mouth to speak but Shiro spoke first. 

“We need to think positively. I don’t think they’re aware he’s gone, he could be injured and wondering around.”

”So, _where_ should we look?”

”I don’t know, we already checked the surrounding beach, I don’t think he could’ve gotten far.” 

Allura sighed.

”It’s already two in the morning. We should head back, we can continue tomorrow.” 

Pidge glared at her. 

“He’s my _brother-!”_  

Shiro tighted his grip on the steering wheel. 

“She’s right, we’ll look again after school tomorrow.” 

Pidge scoffed.

 _”School?_ You really think I’m going to school while my brother could be bleeding out in the woods somewhere-?!” 

“Pidge, just stop! Stop talking okay!? I’m just as upset as you!“ 

Shiro put his face in his hands as he held back tears. 

"Shiro..."

”I just need a minute...” 

Allura rubbed his back and smiled.

”Hey, we’re gonna find him. I know Matt and he _wouldn’t_ give up.”

Pidge smiled and wiped her tears away. 

“She’s right. He _is_ incredibly stubborn...” 

Shiro chuckled and sat up before turning to face Pidge. 

“I promise I’ll get him back, Pidge. I’ll do anything possible to get him back.” 

Pidge nodded and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

”Thank you, Takashi.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance slowly opened his eyes with a loud yawn. 

“Keith..?”

Keith grunted in response.

”Did Shiro ever come back..?” 

“I don’t know...” 

Lance sighed and curled up into the blankets. 

“It’s so cold in here...” 

Keith turned over to face him.

”Not really.”

”Yes, really.” 

“No.” 

Lance rolled his eyes.

”Whatever, Mullet.” 

He sat up and looked at the clock. 

 **8** : **23** **AM**

”We gotta leave soon...” 

Keith groaned. 

“You need to be home by nine, right?” 

“Yeah.” 

“I’ll leave at eight forty five then, I’m going back to sleep.”

 _”Really?”_  

“Yep...” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 **8** : **39**

Keith yawned and looked at Lance.

”Hey-?“ 

Lance breathed slowly as he slept, Keith watched his chest rise up and down at a slow pace. 

“Lance.” 

“Mmm..?” 

“Lance, get up.” 

Lance groaned and lightly pushed him away, Keith poked his cheek.

”Lance, your sister’s gonna be mad.” 

“Mmm, tired...” 

“I know, I am too.” 

Lance opened his eyes and yawned. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith watched Lance get off his bike.

”You okay..?”

Lance turned around to face him.

”Huh, yeah I’m fine.” 

“Okay, I’ll tell you what’s up with Shiro later.” 

“K, thanks for the ride.” 

“No problem.”

Lance walked up to his front door and opened it. 

He waved to Keith and watched him put his helmet back on before speeding down the street. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance walked up to his room as quietly as possible. 

He slowly opened his door, once he was inside he slowly started to close it. 

Diego’s door suddenly slammed open. 

“Where were _you?”_

”What-? No where!” 

“Then why do you have a bag? And I _know_ you don’t own any red clothes, especially sweat pants that are too _small!”_

“I just borrowed these from a friend a while ago.”

Diego glared at him before walking into the bathroom.

 _“Whatever,_ I still hate you...” 

The door slammed shut and Lance sighed before walking back into his room and closing the door.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance woke up to vibration coming from next to him, he looked around in confusion before grabbing his phone and answering it.

”Hello..?” 

“Hey, are you home?” 

Lance frowned at the sound of Lotor's voice. 

“No, I’m busy. I’ll talk to you later.” 

“Hey-!” 

Lance hung up and threw his phone back where it had been. 

A few minutes later a tapping sound came from his window, he ignored it at first but sat up as the tapping turned to knocking. 

_“McClain!”_

Lance quickly got up and opened his window. 

“What do _you_ want and why are you _here!?”_  

Lotor looked up from where he was sitting on the roof and smirked.

”You're _such_ a liar...”


	21. Are You Two Dating?

Lotor climbed in through the window, Lance sat down on his bed and glared at him.

Lotor closed the window and turned to face him.

”What?”

Lance scoffed.

”Are you _serious?_ Why would you come over here?” 

“What, are you mad at me?” 

“What do you think!?” 

Lotor sat down next to Lance. 

“Hey, I was just teasing him...” 

Lance turned away from him. 

“I don’t _care._ I didn’t want them to see that-! It was so embarrassing! Now they think I’m some kid who can’t take care of himself!” 

“Kogane was the one that was spying on _us,_ you know he likes you-!“ 

Lance glared at Lotor before turning away again. 

“No, he doesn’t-!“ 

“Why else would he just stand there and watch?” 

“I don’t know!” 

Lotor wrapped his arms around Lance’s waist.

”I’m really sorry, okay? I’ll never do anything like that again, I swear.” 

Lance ignored him, Lotor pulled him closer and put his face against his neck.

”Lance, I’m _sorry._ I know that was a fucked up thing to do, I was just surprised and jealous...“ 

Lance turned around and covered his mouth as he laughed.

 _”Jealous?”_  

Lotor smirked and moved closer to him.

 _“Extremely_ jealous. I know Kogane wishes he could touch you like that and...“ 

“Shh, no he doesn’t.” 

“He does, I can tell.” 

“No-!“ 

Lotor kissed Lance’s cheek and pressed small kisses down to his neck.

“Do you forgive me now..?” 

“Mmm, I guess. Just don’t try anything stupid.” 

Lotor slid his hand up Lance’s shirt and started rubbing his back. 

“I won’t.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance and Lotor laid in Lance’s bed while they watched Clueless on his fathers old laptop.

Lotor sighed and pulled Lance closer to him.

”I _hate_ this movie.”

Lance continued to stare at the screen.

“Well, I like it.” 

“I don’t like movies about _bitchy_ teen girls...” 

Lance laughed and looked up at him.

”It’s interesting. We can watch something you like later.” 

“I don’t like movies...” 

“You have to like _something.”_

“Nope.” 

Lance sighed.

“What movies have you seen?”

“I’ve seen Mean Girls with Ezor...” 

“That’s _it!?_ You haven’t seen The Breakfast Club, The Edge of Seventeen or Moonrise Kingdom!?”

Lotor shook his head. 

“Oh my god, we need to watch _all_ of them!” 

“I don’t think-?“  

A knock suddenly came from Lance’s door. 

Elina spoke before knocking again.

”Lance! Time for dinner!” 

“I’m not hungry!” 

“I don’t care, come out here!” 

Lance groaned.

”I’m going to sleep!” 

“It’s only five, get out here!” 

Lance climbed out of his bed and cracked the door open.

“I’m really not hungry.”

“Then what _did_ you eat?”

“Just stuff I have sitting around...”

Elina's eyes wondered to her brother’s neck.

_“What-?”_

She lightly grabbed him by his shoulder and pulled him closer.

“What happened to your neck!?”

“Elina! Stop!”

She let him go and glared at him.

“If you’re doing something you’re not supposed to be doing-!” 

“I’m not! You need to calm down-!“ 

“I’m coming in your room!” 

 _“Elina!”_  

Elina forced her way past Lance and into his room, Lance quickly followed after her.

 _”Listen-!”_  

He looked around in confusion, there was no sign of Lotor anywhere. 

Elina opened Lance’s window and looked outside before closing and locking it. 

“I swear to god, I _know_ you’re hiding something.” 

Lance nervously bit down on his lip. 

“There’s really nothing...”

Elina glared at him before walking over to his closet, she slammed the door open revealing Lotor. 

Lotor sighed and looked over at Lance.

”Sorry...” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elina glared at the two boys sitting on Lance’s bed. 

“No secrets! That’s what you told me!” 

Lance looked up at his sister. 

“I’m really sorry...” 

“No! You had the _richest guy_ in town, in his _underwear,_ hiding in your _closet!”_  

Lotor slowly spoke up.

”I’m the one who came over without permission, we had something we needed to talk about and I needed to apologize.” 

 _“Just-!_ Okay! Are you two dating?”

Lance quickly spoke.

”No-!“

Lotor interrupted.

 _”Yes.”_  

Lance looked at him in shock.

_”What-!?”_

Elina slapped her hands together.

”Okay! That’s _all_ I wanted to know! I’ll make up an excuse for you and he can stay but I need to know when he’s here. Also don’t um, do anything like _that.”_

Lance covered his face in embarrassment.

”Oh my _god...”_  

Elina quickly left the room.

”Well, goodnight!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance paced back and forth around his room.

”Why would you _say_ that!? Now she thinks we’re dating!” 

Lotor leaned back. 

“What’s so wrong with that?” 

“We _aren’t_ dating!” 

“Maybe we should...” 

Lance froze and looked at him in confusion.

”What..?” 

“I mean, it wouldn’t be different from what we’re doing now. It just has a label.” 

Lance stood in thought for a few seconds before nodding. 

“I guess you’re right...” 

Lotor stood up and wrapped his arms around his waist. 

“Great, it’s settled then. So, what do you wanna do, _boyfriend?”_

Lance lightly pushed him away and smiled. 

“Stop...” 

Lotor pulled him down on to the bed.

“Let me touch you..?” 

Lance nodded and their lips collided, he pushed Lotor down on the bed and continued kissing him. 

A vibration suddenly came from next to him. 

Lance reached around without breaking the kiss before grabbing his phone, he answered and pulled away from Lotor.

”Hello?” 

Keith breathed heavily as he spoke. 

“What are you doing right now!?” 

“Just laying in bed...” 

“Pidge found _Matt!”_  

Lance sat up straight and his eyes widened. 

“Are you _serious!?”_  

“Yes! I’m gonna wake Shiro up and go see him! Do you want me to pick you up first!?” 

“Uh, yeah!” 

“Be ready in ten minutes!” 


	22. I Couldn’t Protect You

Multiple loud knocks came from Pidge’s front door, she slowly made her way to the window as the banging continued.

Once she saw who it was, she quickly opened the door.

Shiro rushed past her and looked around the living room. 

“Where is he!?”

”He’s sleeping upstairs, don’t go up yet. He hasn’t talked to us at all, Allura gave him food and water and then he fell asleep.” 

“Is he okay!?”

Pidge grabbed Shiro’s hands.

”He’s _fine,_ just a few minor injuries and dehydration.” 

Shiro sighed in relief and collapsed against the wall.

”Thank god...” 

Lotor, Keith and Lance rushed inside.

Lance panted as he made his way to Pidge.

”What happened!?”

”He’s okay now, don’t worry about it. We just need to let him rest up so we can figure this all out.” 

Lance nodded and hugged Pidge.

“I’m glad you found him, are _you_ okay though?” 

Pidge gave him a tired smile.

”Yeah, just tired...” 

“You should go to sleep then, we’ll make sure nothing happens.” 

“No-!“

Keith stepped forward and interrupted.

”He’s right, you look like you haven’t slept for days. Now that Matt’s here, you can get some rest.” 

Pidge reluctantly nodded and turned to Shiro. 

“Can you stay with Matt..? I’ll have Allura stay in my room and the rest of you can stay in the guest room.” 

Shiro quickly nodded as he made his way upstairs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shiro sat at the edge of Matt’s bed, he watched as the other boys chest slowly rose up and down. 

“I’m so sorry, Matt. I tried so hard to protect you and I couldn’t even do that-!”

Tears started to fall down his face, he tried to wipe them away but they kept coming. 

Matt’s eyes slowly fluttered open and he sat up in surprise.

_”Takashi?”_

Shiro’s eyes widened and he gasped.

”I’m sorry-!“ 

Matt smiled and pulled him into a hug. 

“You’re okay! I’m so glad, I thought they-!” 

Matt started to sob as Shiro held him tightly. 

“I’m so sorry-!”

”It’s not your fault, Takashi. I’m the one who didn’t listen, I’m the one who kept going there when you told me not too! I’m the one who dragged _you_ there!” 

“You only went there because you were upset! I couldn’t even _protect_ you!” 

Matt pulled back and looked in Shiro’s eyes. 

“No, you didn’t want our relationship to be public and I respect that now! I know how this town is and your reputation-!“ 

“I don’t care about _any_ of that! I was scared but-! I don’t care anymore! As long as I have you, my friends and my family I’ll be fine.” 

Matt smiled and pressed his lips against Shiro’s. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance stared at the ceiling, the room was quiet besides the sound of Keith’s steady breathing. 

Lotor rolled on to his side to look at Lance before whispering.

“Are you okay..?”

Lance sighed and turned to face him.

“Yeah, I just... Pidge and Matt are so close and it’s making me think of _my_ sister...“

Lance squeezed his eyes shut.

”I miss her, we were really close and I _know_ she would be able to help me through this...” 

“Why don’t you just go see her..?”

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m broke _and_ I don’t have a car.” 

Lotor pulled Lance towards him. 

“Listen, let’s just go to sleep. Once this situation has calmed down, maybe I can take you to see her...”

Lance’s eyes widened.

 _”Seriously!?”_  

“If you really want to...”

”Yes! Oh my god, _yes!_ Thank you so much! You’re so amazing!” 

Lance wrapped his arms around Lotor and hugged him.

”It’s no problem. Now, let’s get some sleep. We don’t wanna wake up Kogane.” 

Lance nodded and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. 

“Goodnight!”

”Goodnight...”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_Shiro stood at the edge of the familiar fenced off dock._

_The sound of someone quietly sobbing filled the air as he continued walking down the dock, h_ _is eyes landed on someone and his breath caught in his throat._

_“Matt...”_

_Matt looked up in surprise before wiping the tears from his eyes and turning back to the water._

_”I told you not to follow me-!“_

_“We’re not allowed to be here.”_

_“Then leave!”_

_Shiro made his way towards him._

_“We’ll get in trouble. Let’s go.”_

_”I don’t wanna be around you right now...”_

_“Matt, I’m sorry. I just... I would lose my position on the team and no one we trust even knows yet! Not even our families-!”_

_Matt stood up and shoved him away._

_“I don’t want to have to keep this a secret! It’s been two years, Shiro!”_

_”Don’t call me that...“_

_”I’m mad at you! Just-!“_

_Matt looked up at him with tears in his eyes._

_”Maybe it would be best to just end-!“_

_A tall man in all black suddenly stepped out from around a crate with a gun pointed at them._

_”What the hell are you two doing here? What did we tell you?”_

_Shiro’s eyes widened and he stepped in front of Matt._

_“We’re leaving-!“_

_A sudden scream filled the air and a young woman ran towards them._

_”Help! Help me, anyone! Please, god!”_

_Another man appeared and dragged her away._

_Shiro stood in shock as he processed the situation, he met eyes with the original man._

_“Listen...”_

_The man sighed before charging at Shiro, within seconds he was in cuffs and on the ground._

_“Matt! Run, go get help!”_

_Matt shook his head and stared at him in shock._

_”Takashi-!”_

_”Go! Just go-!“_

_The man kicked him before turning to Matt, h_ _e pulled a small knife out of his pants and grinned._

_Matt took off running in the other direction._

_Shiro groaned as he struggled to stand up, h_ _e closed his eyes and when he opened them he was in a small dark room with a man leaning over him._

_”You’re very healthy, such a wonderful body...”_

_Shiro tried to get up but pain shot through his entire body._

_”Where's Matt-!?”_

_The man suddenly shoved Shiro’s face down against the floor._

_”Let’s make this easy. You know too much, either work for me-“_

_Shiro gritted his teeth and struggled to look up at the man._

_”No way-!”_

_The man kicked him in the stomach, causing him to groan._

_“Then I’ll still make sure to put your body to good use.”_

_Shiro screamed as a sharp object cut into his arm._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shiro sat up, sweat dripped from all over his body and he shook slightly as his reached around the bed.

His hand brushed Matt’s arm and he looked at him in relief, he quickly got out of the bed and made his way downstairs to the kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance slowly opened his eyes as they adjusted to the light flooding in from a window, he sat up and stretched before looking down at Lotor who was clutching on to his pillow and scowling as he slept. 

Lance lightly shook him.

”Hey, I’m going downstairs. Do you want anything..?”

Lotor slightly opened his eyes and looked up at Lance. 

“Uh, water..?”

Lance quietly laughed before nodding.

”Okay, go back to sleep.” 

Lotor closed his eyes and grumbled as Lance got out of the bed and walked over to Keith, who was asleep on the pull out couch. 

“Keith, wake up. Do you-?” 

Keith groaned and rolled over. 

“I heard you earlier, I just want something to eat.” 

“Wow, not even a _please?”_  

“Lotor didn’t say please...”

Lance rolled his eyes and made his way out of the room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shiro stood in the kitchen in a pair of sweatpants that were obviously too small for him, he sipped from his cup of coffee and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. 

Lance walked into the kitchen and gasped in surprise when he saw Shiro. 

“You’re awake..!”

Shiro awkwardly smiled and took another sip from his coffee. 

“Yeah, couldn’t really sleep, so I just decided to get up.” 

“Yeah... I’m just trying to get my sleep schedule back to normal.” 

Lance started making two cups of water.

The room filled with an awkward silence, Shiro spoke first.

”We never really got to talk about everything...”

Lance gulped and turned to face him.

”Listen, I had too much to drink that night. I was confused and I _do_ like you but not like that. I’m just now coming to terms with the fact that I _am_ attracted to guys and I _know,_ I confused what I felt for you for romantic attraction. I know now that I’m more than happy with just being friends.” 

Shiro smiled.

”That’s great, just next time, make sure you think about everything before you go confessing to someone.” 

Lance laughed before smiling at him.

”I _definitely_ will, thanks for not being weird about all of this...“

Lotor suddenly cleared his throat, startling the two boys. 

“Oh-! Here’s your water!“

Lotor grabbed the cup and slid an arm around Lance's waist. 

“You’ve been gone awhile, so I came to see what you were doing.”

”We were just talking.”

Lotor looked over at Shiro who had retured to drinking his coffee. 

“I gotta head home today, apparently my parents want to _talk.”_  

“That doesn’t sound good, are you sure you should go..?”

”Don’t worry about it, besides if I didn’t show up then I’d _really_ be in trouble.” 

Lance frowned and looked up at him.

”If anything happens, you can _always_ come over to my place...”

”I appreciate it but don’t worry, this happens all the time.”

Lotor pressed his lips against Lance's forehead before looking up at Shiro.

”Sorry about the other night, we all had a little too much to drink and I made a horrible first impression.” 

He moved towards Shiro and stuck out his hand before smiling.

”Nice to _officially_ meet you, I’m sure you already know my name but this is my introduction as Lance’s boyfriend.” 

Shiro’s eyes widened. 

“What-? Wait, since when-!?”

Lance quickly moved in front of Lotor.

”What are you doing!? I didn’t want anyone to know yet!” 

Lotor looked at down at Lance.

”It’s _fine,_ he won’t tell anyone that will care...”

Lance turned to Shiro.

”Please, don’t tell anyone! Just act like you never heard anything, I want to wait until everything’s calmed down!”

Shiro slowly nodded.

”So, this is a new relationship..?”

”Yeah, we hadn’t talked about telling anyone yet...”

Shiro quickly bit down on his lip before smiling at Lotor. 

“Well, take care of each other. You two make a great couple, I gotta go see if Matt is okay...”

Shiro quickly left the room leaving Lance and Lotor alone. 

Lotor looked at Lance and awkwardly smiled.

”So, that went well..?”

”You seriously need to stop doing that!”

”I just want people to know...“

”I don’t! You’re doing this without-!”

Lotor grabbed Lance’s hands and looked into his eyes.

”I’m not doing this to hurt you, I’m doing it to _help_ you.” 

“It’s embarrassing and I don’t know how they’ll react...”

Lotor quickly kissed Lance before smiling at him.

”If they really care about you, they’ll stay next to you no matter what. I won’t tell anyone else without your permission, okay?”

”Promise..?”

”I promise. Now, let’s get Kogane something to eat.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith lazily sat down next to Pidge, he rubbed his temples in frustration before groaning.

Pidge looked over at him and sighed.

”What’s up with you?”

”I _hate_ Lotor.” 

“He’s okay...”

Keith crossed his arms.

”He keeps flirting with Lance...”

Pidge smirked at him.

”And you’re _jealous?”_

Keith sighed.

”I guess..?”

”Wow, he must _really_ be irritating you since you’re _actually_ being honest about your feelings.”

Keith rolled his eyes and lightly shoved her.

”It’s just... It’s not fair! He does it so easily and-! Ugh! I _know_ he’s involved in everything that’s been happening!”

”Keith, you just need to be honest with Lance. He’s totally obviously and won’t notice you like him unless you tell him.” 

“You know I could never do that...”

”I know it’s been rough with him liking Shiro and now the guy you hate is always around him but at least you’re actually becoming _good_ friends with him.” 

Keith stood up and glared at her.

”Thanks for the help, you’re a great best friend.”

Pidge laughed and smiled at him.

”I’m honored to _finally_ receive the title but if you want relationship advice, it would be better to go to Hunk.”

”I can’t do that! How am I supposed to go up to him and be like ‘Uh hey, could I get advice on how to ask Lance, your _best friend,_ out on a date-?“

A loud gasp suddenly came from the other side of the room. 

Keith and Pidge quickly turned around to see Allura standing at the bottom of the stairs with wide eyes. 

“You like _Lance!?”_  

“No!”

Allura walked towards Keith, still with wide eyes.

”I just heard you say you do!” 

“I don’t-!“

Allura quickly turned to Pidge.

”Does he!?”

”I don’t know, ask him.”

Allura groaned and grabbed Keith by his shoulders. 

“Just be honest with me! It’s not like I’m gonna tell him or anything! You two would be so cute and you’re much better than Lotor-!“

Keith’s cheeks flushed red and he rubbed his arm nervously. 

“Um, do you really think I’m better than Lotor..? _Wait,_ even if I did like him, do you think he’d even consider..?“

”Yes! Oh my god, I’ll definitely help you get with him!” 

Keith stared at Allura in surprise and stuttered.

”Uh, yeah okay, thank you..?”

The front door opened and Lance stepped inside, closing the door behind him. 

Allura immediately let go of Keith and looked at Lance. 

“Did Lotor leave?”

Lance made his way over to the group before sitting down in the chair across from the couch.

”Yeah, he has to go talk to his parents.” 

An awkward silence filled the air as Lance looked around the room.

”What’s wrong with you guys?”

Allura looked at Lance in confusion. 

“What do you mean?”

”You’re all being silent, it’s weird...”

Keith looked down at the floor and crossed his arms.

”I don’t think so...”

Lance stood up and rolled his eyes, he pulled out his phone and made his way towards the back door.

 _”Okay then,_ I need to call my sister anyways.”

Once Lance was outside and the door was shut Allura turned back to Keith. 

“We can do something today, let’s go to the beach or something!”

Pidge immediately interrupted.

”Nope, not me. I’m staying here with Matt, there’s no way I’m leaving him alone again.”

”Then you and Shiro can stay here with Matt, I’ll take Keith and Lance to the beach! Oh, maybe Hunk will come too!” 

Keith tilted his head sideways before nervously responding.

”The beach isn't really that great, it’s too cold and there wouldn’t really be anything to do...“

”Keith, listen to me. Lance _loves_ the beach, we always hang out there. It’s like, the only place he actually likes in this town! Just trust me!”

Keith nodded and smiled at her nervously. 

Lance came back inside, the door slammed behind him.

”I definitely have to go home later. Allura, could you give me a ride?”

”Sure! We should go to the beach first though, so we can let Pidge hang out with Matt.”

Lance grinned and hugged her.

”Yeah! I haven’t gone there in a while to _actually_ have fun! I’ll call Hunk too!”

Lance pulled his phone back out of his pocket, Allura turned to Keith. 

“How about you, Keith? It’ll be fun...”

Keith looked up at Lance causing them to make eye contact. 

“Uh, yeah. Well, if that’s okay...“

Lance smiled at him.

”Cool, it’s your first beach trip with us! You’ll love it, we always bring Allura’s speakers and-!“

Pidge pulled Allura to the other side of the room as Lance continued to blabber to Keith.

“Why are you making yourself so involved in this? I know you like giving relationship advice but this is way more than usual...”

”I’m just helping Keith, he’s my friend-!“

Pidge glared at her, Allura sighed before laughing nervously. 

“Fine, I just don’t want Lance to start dating Lotor. If I can get Keith to pull his attention away from him, maybe he’ll back off-!”

 _”Or_ you could seriously mess up some friendships and cause unessasary fights. You shouldn’t use other people’s feelings to your own advantage, Lura.”

Allura frowned at the use of her nickname as Pidge continued talking.

“I’ve known Keith my whole life and he’s _never_ had a crush on anyone, so this is a big deal for him! And I don’t know about Lance and Lotor but as long as Lance is happy it’s fine, Lotor really isn’t that bad of a guy-!“

Lance grabbed Pidge’s shoulder and smirked at the two girls.

”So, what are you two lovebirds talking about?”

Pidge rolled her eyes and lightly shoved him.

”Butt out, Lance. We’re done talking anyways.”

Allura watched as Pidge walked into the kitchen, Lance leaned against her and smirked.

”Well, isn’t she grumpy. Hunk said he’d meet us, so I need to know what time we’re leaving.”

Allura continued to watch Pidge. 

“I changed my mind, let’s just go to my place. Tell Hunk we’re leaving right now.”

”Wait, _now?_ Is that even okay!?”

Allura quickly made her way over to the stairs.

”Coran won’t care, he’s been wanting to see you guys for a while now anyways. Start getting your stuff together, we’re leaving as soon as possible.”


	23. Orla Swirn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Child Abuse/Physical Abuse, Homophobic Language, Underage Drinking, Self Harm/Mentions of past self harm

Lotor walked down the familiar long hallway that seemed as if it could go on for miles if he wanted it too. 

Memories of his childhood flooded into his mind, all horrible and full of dread. He forced himself to stand tall and lift his head as he reached the two very large white double doors.

He took a deep breath as he raised his fist and knocked. 

A gruff male voice came from the other side.

”Who is it and what do you want?”

“It’s Lotor, you wanted me?”

The sound of paper shuffling came before the door swung open, a tall man Lotor didn’t recognize surveyed him as he held it open. Lotor walked into the room, the door shut and the man returned to his position in the corner of the room. 

“I called for you last night, why are you just now getting here?”

Lotor looked to the other side of the room to see his father standing in another doorway that looked too small compared to his bodies build. He forced himself to smile as he answered him.

“I didn’t have my phone on me, I’m sorry.”

Zarkon walked across the room to his desk as his eyes bored into his son, Lotor’s jaw clenched as he stared back at him. 

Zarkon sat behind his desk and motioned for his son to take the seat in front, Lotor quickly obeyed and looked back to his father.

”You’ve been skipping class.”

”I was feeling ill.”

Zarkon pushed his short, graying hair out of his face in annoyance.

”I’ve also heard you’ve made some new _friends.”_

Lotor frowned and looked towards the floor.

”I don’t know where you heard that but it’s not true...“

”Don’t even bother lying to me, boy! You have an image to maintain! You are going to be the face of this company!”

”I’ve told you multiple times, I want nothing to do with this _thing_ you call _business._ Is this all you wanted to speak with me about?”

Zarkon glared at his son as he stood up from his chair.

”You are just a _child,_ you don’t know what you want and as your father I’m telling you to do this!”

”I am seventeen, soon to be eighteen! I know what I want to do with my life-!”

”Do not raise your voice with me, boy! You should only ever show me respect!”

Lotor pressed his lips together as he clenched his fist.

Zarkon walked around the desk and placed his hand on Lotor’s shoulder.

”One more thing, stop hanging around those kids. _Especially_ Kogane and what’s his name, the tall boy? They’re both _horrible_ influences.”

Lotor’s eyes narrowed as he looked up at his father and forced a smirk on to his face.

”I’m dating him, the tall one. His name is Lance, I’m sure you already know that though. He’s a great person, maybe I could bring him over for dinner one day.“

”Stop trying to irritate me.“

Lotor stood up and lifted his head.

”It seems like he _really_ likes me. He’s nervous about telling people about our relationship but I want _everyone_ to know as soon as possible.“

Zarkon suddenly shoved Lotor down and on to the floor.

“What the _hell_ are you doing, boy? Are you trying to ruin me?”

Lotor could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he father came closer to him. 

He gasped as the wind was knocked out of him as his father kicked his stomach, tears began to form in the corners of his eyes as he struggled to breathe and blink them away. 

“He only wants you for your _money!_ Once that’s gone he’ll _leave,_ they all will! _No one_ will ever want _you!_  You’re completely worthless, a horrible mistake and now you’re a fag! You just keep getting better and better, don’t you!?”

Lotor coughed and glared at his father.

”What? You _still_ won’t back down? Stand up and fight!”

Lotor clutched his stomach as he struggled to get on his knees. Zarkon kicked him again, he collapsed back on to the floor.

”Are you _deaf?_ I said stand back up! Go on, _hit me!”_

Lotor squeezed his eyes shut and continued to clutch his stomach, Zarkon's laughter filled the air and Lotor squeezed his eyes shut even tighter.

”Absolutely pathetic. You’re a disgrace to this family. You deserve every single thing I’ve done to you _plus_ more.” 

The side door of the room swung open. 

Lotor opened his eyes in surprise to see his mother rushing into the room, her large purple robe fluttered as she walked and her hair threatened to fall from the bun she had quickly made on her head. 

Zarkon glared at her as she made her way to him. 

“Honerva, you are _not_ needed here.” 

“He’s my son too, I would also like to speak with him.”

Zarkon turned away from his wife and made his way back to his seat. 

“Do as you wish, I just want everyone out of my sight.”

Honerva quickly helped her son up, her face remaining cold until they had both left the room. 

“Lotor...“

Lotor’s forehead furrowed as he looked at her.

”Don’t speak to me. I’m leaving, if you want to help me then don’t tell _Zarkon.”_

”Don’t call him that, he’s your _father...“_

”That man is _not_ my father and _you_ are _not_ my mother! I want nothing to do with either of you! Please, just let me go, just forget I ever existed! You two can make someone else the head of the company!”

Honerva gave him a half smile and grabbed his arm.

”You know I could never do that, you’re my _son...“_

Lotor flinched at his mothers touch and quickly pulled away from her. 

Honerva's smile faded as she watched the fear overtake her sons face. 

“He doesn’t mean what he says. He loves you, he just doesn’t know how to show it-!”

”That’s a _lie.”_

”No! He’s just too rough with you, I’ll talk to him about it if you stay here. Please, this is your home!”

Lotor’s expression hardened and he turned away from the woman.

”I would rather _die_ than stay here with you two.”

Lotor ran as fast as he could down the hallway as Honerva called after him. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith looked out the window of Allura’s Jeep in awe as they pulled into the driveway of a large white and blue house. 

Allura parked the Jeep before exiting, Lance followed after her and Keith struggled to keep up. Keith walked behind the two as they made their way to the front door. Allura inserted a light pink key into the lock and unlocked it before opening the door and moving out of the way, so Keith and Lance could come inside. 

Lance practically ran inside with a large grin on his face, excitement radiated off of him as he struggled to remove his shoes. Allura locked the door behind her and removed her shoes, placing them in a cubby next to many others. 

“Just, put your shoes in any empty spot. It doesn’t matter which one.”

She walked a few feet into the house before turning and walking into the closest room. Keith continued to marvel at the gigantic house as Lance raced past him into the same room Allura had gone into. 

Lance suddenly shrieked in excitement, startling Keith who quickly made his way into the room, which turned out to be a kitchen. 

An average sized man stood by the sink, he had fair skin and medium length bright orange hair but the most noticeable feature was his large curly orange mustache. 

His eyes lit up when he saw Lance and a large smile appeared on his face. 

“Lance, my dear boy! How have you been!?”

Lance practically leaped on to the man and laughed, Keith noted how his face crinkled up when he was genuinely happy. 

“I’ve been okay! I’m sorry I haven’t been over in a while, a _lot_ of stuff has been going on!”

”That’s fine, as long as you’re happy and having fun! You came on a good day, I’m making your _favorite.”_

Lance’s eyes widened in surprise.

”Seriously!? You’re the best, can you put extra cheese on them! _Oh,_ put cheese inside too!”

”I _already_ did.”

”You’re a mind reader, I should just move in here!”

Allura wrapped an arm around each of them and smiled.

”We definitely have the room but I’m gonna have to say no, it’s loud enough with just Coran.” 

Lance nudged her in the side and wiggled his eyebrows. 

“Sorry to disturb the silence, _princess.”_

Allura laughed and lightly shoved him away, Coran smiled at the two.

”You better be taking care of each other, I’m not always gonna be around to do that.”

Lance stood up straight and puffed his chest out before pushing his hair back and smirking. 

“Oh, I _always_ take care of the princess. Anytime anyone says something bad about her, _boom!_ They have to deal with me.”

Allura rolled her eyes and wiggled her finger at him tauntingly. 

“I think it’s the other way around. You’re a crybaby, I always have to protect _you.”_

”Say what you want to make yourself feel better, princess.”

Allura gasped dramatically before jumping on to Lance.

”Let’s see who’s tougher now!”

Lance groaned as he tried to hold Allura up.

”Jeez, you’re heavy! What have you been eating!?”

Allura laughed and swatted at him, Keith leaned against the doorway and softly smiled as Lance and Allura laughed. 

Coran’s eyes landed on Keith and he cleared his throat. 

“I _believe_ you two haven’t introduced me to that one.”

Allura and Lance turned to face Keith in surprise, Allura gasped.

 _”Oh!_ I’m sorry, I got too caught up in the excitement.”

Keith rubbed the back of his neck and gazed down at the floor.

”It’s fine, I wasn’t really...“

Lance made his way to Keith and pulled him back to the others.

”Coran, this is our friend Keith. He’s Takashi’s younger brother.”

Coran smiled at him before wrapping him in a hug.

“Nice to meet you, young man! I haven’t seen you around before!”

Keith lightly tugged at the sleeve of his sweatshirt as he responded to Coran.

”I just recently started hanging out with Lance and Allura, I usually just hang out with Pidge... _Oh,_ uh I mean Katie!”

Lance grabbed Keith’s arm and squeezed it.

”Hey, he’s not like my dad. Pidge is okay, don’t be nervous.”

Keith nodded and gave Coran an awkward smile.

”Well, _any_ friend of Allura or Lance is welcome here! Now, I don’t mean to seem rude but you really do look quite different from your brother...“

Allura stared at Coran in shock.

”Oh my god, you can’t just _say_ that-!”

Keith quickly interrupted and cleared his throat.

”Actually, I’m adopted, so that’s why we don’t look related...”

Coran placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder and smiled warmly.

”Nothing wrong with that! A family doesn’t have to be who you’re related to by blood! Actually, _this_ pretty young woman right here next to me is my god child! Still love her to death though and treat her as my own!”

Allura’s cheeks turned a light pink and she looked up at Keith. 

“My parents got in an accident when I was young and they passed away, Coran was my god father and one of my parents closest friends, so he got custody. He’s great though and I couldn’t have asked for anyone better to take care of me. Thank you, Coran.”

Coran’s eyes shimmered with tears as he stared at Allura in amazement before wrapping her in a hug. 

“That’s _truly_ touching, Allura! I’ve never received such an amazing compliment, how could I have been blessed with such a sweet child! You’re making me cry!”

Allura giggled and hugged him back, Coran let go of her and wiped his tears away before smiling and shooing the others away.

”Okay, Okay, that’s enough you can all go upstairs now, I’ll call you when the food is ready.”

Allura smiled at him before pulling Lance and Keith away towards the stairs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith sat with his legs crossed on a shaggy hot pink carpet, Lance sat across from him on a large lime green bean bag chair. 

The room around them was painted bright pink and covered with various posters from bands and shows, along with photos and other random things. 

Allura suddenly closed the mini fridge that sat in the corner of the room and tossed a lemonade at Keith, he caught it in surprise and looked up at her.

”I don’t know what you like and I only have lemonade, water and Dr Pepper so I took my chances.”

”Lemonade is fine.”

Allura sat down on the carpet and smiled.

”Good, Lance _you’re_ getting a Dr Pepper.”

Lance took the can and looked at it in disgust. 

 _“Really?_ You don’t have any Fanta?”

Allura waved the orange colored can in front of him tauntingly.

”Only one left, which is for _me.”_

”Wow, you’re so selfish.”

”Says the guy who ate the last bag of salt and vinegar chips when he _knows_ they’re my favorite.”

”That was _two years_ ago! How do you even _remember that!?”_

Allura placed her hand on her chest and pretended to clutch her heart.

”I’ll never forget, those were my _chips-!”_

Lance shoved Allura with his foot.

 _”Okay_ drama queen, let’s do something.”

Allura rolled her eyes and took a sip of her soda.

”Like what?”

”I don’t know, you’re the host. Think of something.”

Allura sat silently in thought for a few seconds before her eyes lit up.

”Let’s play truth or dare!”

Lance nodded and smirked after a second of thinking.

”Sure, there’s a few things I could ask you two...” 

Allura groaned.

”Oh _great,_ how do you always know what to ask?” 

“That’s a secret! Keith, are you okay with playing?”

Keith looked up from his lemonade.

”Oh, uh yeah. That’s fine, I’ve never really played before.“

Allura and Lance looked at Keith in shock, the bedroom door suddenly opened and Hunk walked inside, sitting his green backpack on Allura’s vanity table.

”Hey guys, what’re we doing?”

Lance immediately sprung up and clutched on to Hunk.

”We’re playing truth or dare, we were about to start until Keith said he’s _never_ played.”

Hunk looked at Keith in surprise.

”Wow, _really?_ Don’t let Lance ruin it for you.”

Lance crossed his arms and pouted as Hunk grabbed a lemonade out of the mini fridge.

”That’s rude, it’s not my fault I just know what to ask!”

Hunk put his mouth by Lance’s ear before whispering.

”You okay..?”

Lance nodded and smiled at Hunk.

”I’m _way_ better, don’t worry about it buddy.”

Hunk smiled back at him before they both took their places on the floor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allura clapped her hands together and grinned.

”Okay! I’ll go first! Keith, truth or dare?”

“Uh, truth?”

Lance rolled his eyes.

_”Lame...”_

Allura flicked his cheek.

”You’re lame. Keith, do you have a crush on anyone?”

Lance snorted and looked at her in disbelief.

”That’s a good way to start the game, princess.”

Allura shoved him and they laughed while Hunk leaned over to a blushing Keith.

”You can just answer with yes or no.”

Lance gasped.

”Hunk! No helping!”

Hunk shrugged.

”I was just letting him know...”

”Whatever! Keith, do you like anyone? Yes or no?”

Keith looked up at Lance, his face reddened before he quietly answered.

”Yes...”

Lance looked at him in surprise.

”Wow, seriously? Aw, Keith has a crush! Who is it?”

Allura quickly interrupted.

”Don’t push it, Lance. Keith, it’s your turn.”

Keith’s eyes returned to Lance.

”Truth or dare?”

”Dare.”

Lance smirked while Keith sat in thought for a moment.

”I dare you to eat one of those cat treats I saw downstairs.”

Lance’s nose crinkled up in disgust, Allura and Hunk burst into laughter before Allura stood up.

”Oh my _god,_ you have to do it! I’ll go get them.”

Hunk placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

”That was _great,_ I can’t believe you came up with that so fast.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allura ran into her room and handed Lance a tiny fish shaped cracker.

Lance pinched his nose in disgust.

”It smells _so_ bad, please don’t make me do this.”

Allura grinned and leaned towards him.

”If you don’t do it, you’ll just have to do a dare that’s even worse.”

Lance began to pout before quickly throwing the cat treat in his mouth, chewing and swallowing. 

He immediately gagged and reached for his soda, the rest of the group burst into laughter and he groaned.

“You guys are _horrible._ Hunk, truth or dare?”

”Definitely truth.”

Lance smirked.

”Okay, why haven’t you asked out Shay?”

Hunk’s face immediately flushed red and Allura giggled.

”Good one, Lance.”

“I know, I’m great. Hunk, are you gonna answer?”

Hunk rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

”Well, I mean, I _like_ her but I don’t know how she feels. I don’t want to ruin our friendship or make it awkward, I’m just waiting for the right moment I guess.”

Allura groaned.

”You two are like head over heals for each other! You’re both just too scared to make a move!”

”Okay! Jeez, this is so _embarrassing!_ Keith, truth or dare?”

Keith blinked before turning to Hunk.

”Dare.”

”Uh, I dare you to let Allura do your hair.”

Lance groaned and poked Hunk's arm.

”Great dare, buddy.”

”Shut up, you know I _suck_ at coming up with dares!”

Allura grabbed a hairbrush from her vanity table and turned to Keith.

”I know exactly what to do.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lotor pulled himself up on to the large white balcony connected to the familiar white mansion, he knocked on the glass doors which were currently covered by white and pink curtains.

The curtains were quickly pulled open to reveal a short girl with pale skin, long black hair, and light blue eyes. 

The grin on her face fell when her eyes met Lotor’s, it was quickly replaced with a pout. 

“What the _hell_ are you doing here?”

”Nice to see you too, hurry up and let me in.”

“No, get out of here! You can’t just show up and-!”

Lotor pushed his hair back and groaned.

”I have no where else to go and I’m _hurt._ Just please let me in, Orla.”

Orla bit down on her lip before reluctantly opening the door and moving out of the way to let him in. Lotor walked inside and looked around the room as Orla locked the door.

”You redecorated again, still sticking with the pink though. You know, the _one_ thing I miss about my old place is my balcony...“

Orla grabbed Lotor’s arm and led him over to her bed.

”Let me see.”

Lotor lifted his shirt up and Orla stared at his stomach in disbelief. 

“Zarkon again?”

”Yeah.”

”God, he gets worse every time. What made him so _mad?”_

”I didn’t show up when he wanted me to, he’s probably just out of coke. He always gets really violent when he’s out.”

Orla pulled a small green box out from under her bed and sat it next to Lotor, he looked up and down her body as she looked through the box.

“Nice outfit, I’m going to assume you were _expecting_ someone?”

Orla looked down at the short, pink, practically see through night gown she had forgotten she was wearing. Her face flushed bright red and she shoved Lotor before quickly pulling on her large fluffy pink robe that had been sitting on a nearby chair.

Lotor chuckled and Orla glared at him.

”You’re such a _perv!_ I’m trying to help you and you’re staring at my body! God, I hate you!”

Lotor sighed and smiled at her.

”Okay, I’m _sorry._ Just please help me.”

Orla grabbed a cotton pad and poured saline solution on it.

”Hold still.”

She slowly began to clean the wound, Lotor flinched as the stinging sensation on his stomach worsened.

 _”Shit,_ that really hurts!“

Lotor hissed and pushed Orla’s hand away.

”Forget it!”

”Just sit still! I’m almost done, you’re the one who came over for help, so let me help! It’s just a little stinging, it’s _much_ better than getting an infection!”

Lotor sighed and sat up straight, Orla quickly finished cleaning the wound before wrapping it up in a bandage.

They room stayed quiet as she cleaned up the medical supplies, once she was finished she sat down on the bed next to him.

”You haven’t talked to me since the beginning of summer.”

”I know.“

”I _missed_ you...”

Lotor’s eyes widened in surprise as he turned to face Orla, tears shimmered in her eyes as she smiled at him.

”I thought that maybe... Maybe Zarkon had finally done it! I thought you were _gone_ and I was all alone!”

The color drained from Lotor’s face as she began to sob. 

“No, please don’t cry, I _hate_ it when you cry. I would never do that to you, I’d never leave you in this situation alone, with no one to understand how you’re feeling.”

”I care about you so much, Lotor! You didn’t even _call_ me! I know I say shit like _I hate you_  but you _know_ I don’t mean it! My parents haven’t been letting me take my medication and Vince was grounded, so I couldn’t see him and I had _no idea_ where you were! I’ve felt _so alone_ all summer!”

Lotor wiped her tears away and grabbed her hands.

”I’ll _always_ be here for you and I’ll get us out of here, I promise. Now, did you do _anything?”_

Orla’s shoulders slumped and she stared down at the bed as she let out a shaky breath.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

”When did you do it?”

Orla continued to stare down at the floor as Lotor squeezed her hands.

”Six days ago...”

”Where?”

She slowly pulled her robe and nightgown up to reveal the outside of her right thigh.

Lotor forced himself to stay relaxed.

”You cleaned it up, that’s great. I told you to call me _anytime_ you felt like it though.”

”You hadn’t talked to me for over two months...“

“I know and I’m sorry but there’s a lot of shit happening, there’s other things you can do.“

Orla’s lashes fluttered as she scrambled to respond.

”I _did_ everything! It just all became too much and I _swear_ that was the only time I did it! I’m basically still clean!”

“You can’t keep hurting yourself! You always tell me you won’t do it again and that you’ll call me but you _don’t!_ I’m seriously worried about you!”

”Yeah, you must be _really_ fucking worried about me! That’s why you didn’t contact me for almost _three months!_ I don’t know how much longer I can do this, I can’t keep living like I’m this _perfect_ daughter who’s ready to marry a man that was _chosen_ for me!”

Lotor clenched his fist and stood up.

”I'm going through the _exact_ same shit! Don’t act like you’re the only one suffering, at least you don’t have to worry about your dad hurting the people you love! Or almost _killing you_ when he gets pissed!”

”Yeah, so I don’t have to worry about my parents hurting me but how do you think they’ll react if they find out about _Vince!_ Or what I’ve been doing to myself, just so I can fucking _cope!”_  

A series of knocks suddenly came from the balcony door, Orla gasped in surprise before quickly wiping her tears away.

”This _has_ to stay between you and me.”

She opened the balcony door and smiled. An average height boy with dark skin and short wavy hair walked inside, his eyes landed on Lotor.

Lotor smiled and the boy glared.

”Why is _he_ here?”

Orla locked the balcony door and sighed.

”He’s my friend.“

”I _hate_ him.”

Lotor sat back down on the bed and scrunched his face up.

”I’m right here, could you at least talk about this privately? _Honestly_ Vince, could you be more of an asshole?”

Vince glared at Lotor and wrapped an arm around Orla’s waist.

 _”Fuck you,_ you’re the one always saying flirty shit and just being-!“

”Is this because I interrupted your _appointment?_ There’s more important things than you two fucking.“

Vince’s eyes burned with anger as he grabbed Lotor by his shirt collar.

”What the hell is your _problem!?”_

Orla shoved Vince off of Lotor.

”He’s already hurt! Stop getting so easily upset!”

Lotor pulled his shirt up to reveal his bandages as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

”Whatever, just _know_ if I see you making a move on Orla...“

Lotor pressed his lips together and rolled his eyes.

”How many times do I have to say I’m _not_ interested? Besides, I have a _boyfriend_ now, so I’m off the market.”

Orla and Vince both stared at him in shock before Vince burst into a fit of laughter and Orla grinned.

”When were you gonna tell me? How long have you been dating him? Oh my god, is _that_ why you were so busy? _Hmm?_ What have you been up to, Lotor? Wait! Who is it?”

Vince shook with laughter as he wiped his tears away.

”Are you _serious?_ Who the hell is the unlucky kid that ended up with _you?”_

Lotor scoffed.

”Like I’d tell _you,_ I was only telling you so you wouldn’t worry about Orla and me.”

Orla grabbed Lotor’s shoulders and shook him.

”No, you have to tell us! You’ve never dated _anyone_ before so this guy has to be super special!”

”He’s just someone I have a few classes with, you wouldn’t know him anyways.”

”Then describe him!”

Lotor sat in thought for a moment before rubbing the back of his neck.

”Well, he’s tall.”

_”And?”_

”He has curly hair and blue eyes..”

”Oh my _god,_ Lotor! His name, what’s his _name?”_

Lotor rolled his eyes.

”His last name’s McClain.”

Vince’s eyes widened in surprise.

”Seriously? Dude, I’m _friends_ with Marco McClain and there’s no way in _hell_ you're dating him so, that only leaves Lance and Diego. Oh god, you better not be dating the _middle schooler.“_

”Of course not! You better not say anything to his brother.”

”Nah, I don’t wanna get involved. Just be warned, Marco can be a _pretty_ scary dude when he’s pissed. So, I definitely wouldn’t do anything to hurt his little baby brother.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shiro locked his truck and began walking towards the entrance of the small local grocery store. The parking lot and street were almost completely empty besides a few older women loading groceries into their cars that Shiro assumed to be stay at home moms. 

The feeling of eyes watching him caused him to look to his right, two women quickly turned back to their car and whispered to each other.

Shiro swallowed the lump in his throat before quickening his pace, he entered the store and made his way to the produce section.

It felt as if thousands of eyes were on him as he reached for a large box of spinach. He quickly left the isle, grabbing the few other things he needed and going to the dairy section. He grabbed a small container of feta cheese and made his way to the front. 

An elderly woman greeted him as he approached the checkout, she smiled at him as she began scanning the items.

”You look very familiar, sir. Have we perhaps met before?”

Shiro forced a smile before chuckling and shaking his head. 

“No, I don’t think so. We live in a small town, so you might have seen me around.”

The woman finished scanning his items.

”That’ll be $23.54”

Shiro fumbled with his wallet before pulling out the money, his hands shook as he handed her the cash.

”Would you like a receipt? _Oh,_ I know where I've seen you!”

Shiro quickly grabbed his bag and headed towards the door.

”I don’t need a receipt, thanks. Have a good day.” 

He held his breath as he practically ran to his car, after fumbling with his keys for a moment he unlocked the truck and climbed in. The door slammed and locked behind him as he threw the groceries into the passenger seat. 

The truck started and his hands squeezed the steering wheel, turning his knuckles white.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith sat on the floor with his eyes narrowed and his arms crossed. 

Allura and Lance held back giggles as they stared at Keith’s hair, Hunk looked at Keith and the corner of his mouth lifted. 

“It really isn’t _that_ bad, it kinda suits you...”

Lance swiped through the photos on his phone with a grin on his face. 

“This is _payback_ for making me eat that cat treat, mullet! What comes around-!“

Keith tried to swipe the phone from Lance’s hand but Lance quickly pulled his arm back.

”Hey! Don’t even try anything! I have longer arms, you’ll never reach!”

”Just don’t send the photos to anyone!”

A loud voice suddenly echoed through the house.

”Food is ready!”

Everyone immediately stood up, Lance still smirking at Keith. Allura and Hunk left the room, Lance nudged the other boy.

”Don't worry, the pigtails look cute. Especially compared to your _usual_ mullet.”

Keith’s face reddened as he watched Lance leave the room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shiro locked the front door behind him and walked into the kitchen. 

Pidge looked up from her laptop in surprise.

”You’re back _already?_ That was fast.”

Shiro sat the bag of groceries on the counter and looked down at the floor. 

“Where’s Matt?”

”I think he’s taking a bath, he was when I came down here.”

Shiro walked up the stairs and to the end of the hall, he pressed his ear up against the bathroom door.

Water thumped against the bathtub and Matt let out a deep sigh. 

Shiro walked back to Matt’s room and slowly closed the door behind him. A pack of bandages sat on his desk, guilt immediately washed over him. 

He quickly made his way to Matt’s dresser, he opened the bottom drawer and pushed many pairs of socks out of the way. 

A large bottle of Jack Daniels sat pushed up against the corner.

Shiro pulled it out and unscrewed the top before lifting it up with shaking hands and taking a sip.


End file.
